Space Power Utilizing Fuel Cells

Fuel cell power systems have provided electrical power on several NASA programs since its founding, from Gemini to Apollo to the Space Shuttle. The combined benefits of only needing a tiny fraction of the hydrogen and oxygen present in the propellant tanks to provide kiloWatts of power and producing high purity, potable water as a reaction product made fuel cell systems a valuable technology for long duration, manned spaceflight.

When the Space Shuttle program ended, the fuel cell production line was discontinued, leaving NASA and private space companies without a space-qualified fuel cell system to support long duration manned space activities. The combination of solar panels and batteries provide power for almost all satellites and manned spacecraft today, but are limited by how much energy they can store, struggle to sustain power while the sun is blocked, and do not produce water for use by the astronauts.

The Teledyne EDR fuel cell system has been designed to solve this problem. The EDR fuel cell system uses high performance cells that maximize efficiency and have demonstrated consistent power output for thousands of hours. The EDR fuel cell employs passive means of controlling the flow of hydrogen and oxygen to the cells and removing the water produced, which greatly reduces the mass of the unit and dramatically improves system reliability. The passive water removal mechanism has successfully operated in a zero gravity environment, solving one of the biggest challenges to operating a fuel cell system in space.

With the EDR fuel cell system, Teledyne has provided a power system capable of operating in space to support long term human activity by NASA and the private space industry​.