Lithium-ion cells for satellite applications operate under a special condition, and are expected to behave differently from those for commercial purposes. To understand the performance-degradation mechanism of lithium-ion cells experienced cycle-life testing in a simulated low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite operation, we conducted the structure analysis and surface characterization of the aged LiCoO2 cathode and graphite anode obtained from a lithium-ion cell with 4350-cycle LEO simulation experience. The analysis results were compared with a fresh cell which served as control. This paper provides a review of testing results on electrochemical and structure analysis. The capacity-verification and impedance measure results indicated that the LiCoO2 cathode, rather than graphite anode, was responsible for the performance degradation of the aged cell. This conclusion was confirmed by the structure analysis. The qualitative analysis of the XRD spectra disclosed that the aged cathode exhibited a much larger structure change than the aged anode. We also detected the lithium ions that were irreversibly reserved in graphite anode in XRD and Li-7 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis of aged graphite anode. These results lead us to deduce that the serious structure change in LiCoO2 cathode was primarily responsible for the performance degradation of the aged cell. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.