SAN DIEGO – A San Diego technology company will have an out-of-this world experience sometime next year as part of a NASA flight that will take astronauts the furthest ever flown into space.
NASA has awarded a purchase order exceeding $400,000 to KULR Technology Group, Inc. (NYSE American: KULR) to test lithium-ion cells going into future battery packs designed for the Artemis Program.
The cells will be aboard NASA’s Artemis 2, scheduled to launch no earlier than September 2025. The mission will bring four astronauts 4,600 miles beyond the far side of the moon, further away than anyone has ever traveled, over a 10-day mission.
The battery packs supply power to the satellite’s communications and various systems. The systems are primarily charged by solar energy, but battery packs will take over as the main energy source during periods of eclipse.
The Artemis 2 mission follows the successful unmanned Artemis 1 launch last year and will pave the way for the Artemis 3 mission in 2026, bringing humans to the moon for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in 1973.
Chief Technology Officer
KULR Technology Group Inc.
The new $400,000 purchase order brings KULR’s total NASA contract to $2 million for its advanced automated battery cell screening system, KULR Chief Technology Officer Will Walker.
KULR specializes in evaluating battery cells essential for manned space missions, and the company plans to expand its technology to support 21,700 cells by year’s end to meet the demand and enhance safety and reliability for various mission-critical applications.
Ultimately, the plan is for the Artemis missions to establish a permanent moon base to facilitate manned missions to Mars.
Preparing for Launch
Walker said the cells that will be used on the upcoming missions are required to meet certification to NASA’s strict specifications for manned flights.
The battery design is undergoing acceptance testing according to NASA Johnson Space Center’s criteria, a necessary step for any crewed space mission, he added.
A statement from the company read that KULR is in a leading position in safe battery design and testing, making it a significant player in the global electrification movement and one of a few companies to meet the stringent requirements and rigorous testing required by NASA.
KULR also cites Straits Research as noting the global battery cell-testing market is anticipated to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 4% between 2022 and 2030, when it will reach $7 billion.
The design and development work for the NASA project will be a collaborative effort between the company’s facilities in San Diego and in Webster, Texas.
CEO
KULR Technology Group Inc.
A statement from KULR said the project is a cornerstone of expanding the KULR One Space (K1S) portfolio into CubeSat and SmallSat markets, customized battery design activities and preparedness for low-volume but high-technical niche battery production.
As explained by Walker, SmallSats are smaller spacecraft designed to weigh less than 180 kilograms, and CubeSats are a class of satellites that weigh between one and 10 kilograms.
“While not an ‘off the shelf’ solution, the KULR ONE Space battery architecture has been under development for a long time and has reached a high level of maturity,” Walker said.
“For Artemis 2 customers and similar missions, KULR’s strategy is to utilize the existing K1S architecture, implement rapid modifications, and swiftly proceed to acceptance testing, thereby reducing costs, schedule, and delivery time.”
Other Contracts, New Products
News of the NASA contract comes two months after KULR announced it had secured a contract with a top Japanese multinational automaker for testing and analysis of high-energy battery cells.
The company, which was not named in the announcement, will use the KULR ONE Design Solutions (K1-DS) platform to expedite the design readiness for its future electric vehicle buildout.
The K1-DS originally was developed to introduce customers to KULR products, with the goal of transitioning to volume production. KULR has since expanded its testing services, projecting it to become an annual $8 to $10 million revenue standalone business starting in 2025, without additional investment in testing capabilities.
Also in May, KULR announced that its products SafeCASE and SafeSLEEVE had received U.S. Department of Transportation approval under a special permit. The products were accepted by United Parcel Service Inc. for transporting batteries.
KULR Technology Group
FOUNDED: 2013
CEO: Michael Mo
EMPLOYEES: 50+
HEADQUARTERS: Kearny Mesa
BUSINESS: Specialized technologies related to battery storage
STOCK: KULR (NYSE)
REVENUE: $9.83 million
WEBSITE: kulrtechnology.com
CONTACT: 858-866-8478
NOTABLE: KULR Technology has exclusively licensed from NASA an innovative automated cell screening line with a capability that enables screening of cylindrical lithium-ion battery cells to be certified for manned spaceflight.
