Sixty years ago, Saft lifted off into space
In the mid-1960s, space was emerging as a new strategic frontier. Major powers were competing through technological innovation, increasingly sophisticated satellites, and ever-more powerful launchers. In this still nascent race for space, France refused to remain a mere spectator. It wanted to play a leading role.
In this context, in February 1966, a satellite named Diapason 1A was placed into orbit. On board, for the first time, was a Saft battery designed to sustainably power a satellite in Earth orbit. This launch marked the beginning of a journey that has linked Saft to the history of French, European and global spaceflight for sixty years.
A French determination to master space
From the end of the Second World War, France pursued an ambitious policy aimed at becoming a fully-fledged space nation. The objective was clear: to master launchers, satellites and their operation, in order to remain independent of other powers.
From the late 1950s, the first French launch vehicles emerged, including the Véronique rockets. Their name is no coincidence: it comes from a contraction of Vernon, the Norman town hosting a major rocket engine research centre, and the word “electronics”. Véronique rockets represented the first technological building blocks of France’s space architecture. They enabled experience to be gained, payload mass to increase progressively and paved the way for future generations of launchers.
They were soon followed by launchers nicknamed the “precious stones” — Diamant, Topaze, Émeraude, Safir and Rubis. It was one of these Diamant launchers that allowed France to officially join the very exclusive club of space powers.
From the first French satellite to the first sustainable mission
In November 1965, France launched Astérix, its very first satellite. It was a symbolic success, but still experimental. Astérix had no autonomous power system: no solar panels and no battery. It demonstrated that France could place an object into orbit, but not yet operate it over the long term.
A few months later, Diapason 1A changed everything.
Launched in February 1966 from the Hammaguir base in Algeria, Diapason 1A became the first fully operational French satellite.
Designed for a two-year mission in low Earth orbit, it carried scientific instruments for experimental measurements, particularly related to the Doppler effect, in preparation for future space applications.
Above all, Diapason 1A was equipped with a genuine power system. Solar panels generated energy, and a battery ensured power supply during eclipse phases. This nickel-cadmium technology battery was supplied by Saft.
CNES and the emergence of a space ecosystem
At the time, French space governance was taking shape. The French space agency, CNES (Centre National d’Études Spatiales), was created in 1961 and became the architect and driving force behind French space programmes. CNES designed missions, defined scientific and technical objectives, coordinated industrial partners and analysed in-orbit data.
For Diapason 1A, satellite and battery performance were monitored via telemetry analysed by CNES, which then informed the industrial partners of the results. The mission far exceeded initial expectations: planned for two years, it remained operational for six.
This was a strong signal for the future.
Sixty years of innovation in orbit
Following Diapason, space programs multiplied. For several decades, nickel-cadmium became the reference technology for space applications over several decades, equipping in particular the first generations of Météosat satellites and numerous international missions. Saft fully mastered this battery technology, also deploying it in transport applications such as railways and aviation.
In the 1990s, Saft qualified nickel-hydrogen technology, combining a nickel-cadmium accumulator with a fuel cell, before introducing Lithium-ion technology in the early 2000s. Each technological transition represented a leap in complexity and performance, as well as a managed risk, validated mission after mission.
Some performances have become emblematic. The W3A telecommunications satellite, launched in 2004 with a Saft lithium-ion battery, operated for 22 years in geostationary orbit with a record capacity loss of less than 3%. Other missions, such as the SOHO solar satellite launched in 1995, have now exceeded thirty years in orbit. And in 2014, the Rosetta mission and its Philae lander, the first ever to land on a comet, 500 million kilometers from Earth.
A story still being written
Sixty years after Diapason 1A, Saft batteries continue to power the most demanding space missions — from Earth observation in low Earth orbit, including constellations such as Iridium NEXT, to telecommunications in geostationary orbit, positioning in MEO orbit, lunar exploration and deep-space scientific missions.
Behind these performances lies a human adventure built on expertise, technological boldness and the transmission of experience.
What strikes me today is the continuity and the steady improvement in performance. Technologies have evolved, missions have become more complex, but the requirement remains the same: to provide high levels of reliable energy, because no real repair is possible in orbit, over durations that often far exceed initial forecasts — sometimes by several decades — while meeting severe constraints such as launch vibrations and shocks, the vacuum of space, radiation, and extreme temperatures ranging from -150°C to over 250°C. When you look back, it all truly begins with Diapason.
