LONGMONT - ABSL Space Products, a company that develops lithium-ion battery systems for spacecraft, will expand its development and research facility in Longmont.

ABSL Space Products employs about 40 people and builds energy storage systems that keep satellites powered as they travel through space, said Kevin Schrantz, a sales manager at the facility.

The Longmont facility, currently in a 10,256 square-foot space at 2602 Clover Basin Drive, is a product-development and testing center, Schrantz said. The company is moving to a 29,111-square-foot space at 1751 S. Fordham St., which is in the Diagonal Tech Center.

ABSL Space Products will relocate after the new space is finished, which should be within the calendar year, Schrantz said.

The company is growing, and the relocation will help it keep up with demand, Schrantz said.

ABSL batteries' specific task is to store energy from a satellite's solar system so the satellite can remain operational during the "eclipse phase" of its orbit when the body it orbits blocks sunlight, Schrantz said.

ABSL Space Products is a division of EnerSys Inc., which is based in Reading, Pennsylvania. EnerSys develops energy-storage technology for industrial applications. It purchased ABSL Space Products in February 2011 when it acquired ABSL Power Solutions Ltd., the British company that was the parent of ABSL Space Products.

The Fordham Street space is owned by Goff Capital Partners. Scott Garel of Newmark Knight Frank Frederick Ross and Becky Gamble of Dean Callan & Co. are the property's listing brokers. Robert Kontur of UGL Equis Corp. represented EnerSys.