The battery is made of the radioactive isotope carbon-14, encased in a thin layer of synthetic diamond.
As the carbon-14 decays it emits electrons.
The diamond acts like a semiconductor, converting these electrons into electricity.
Since carbon-14 has a half-life of 5,700 years, scientists expect the battery to last for millennia.
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NASA launched the satellite in 1977 and it is still sending data back to Earth.
The battery can also be recycled at the end of its life if anyone is still around by then!
The carbon-14 was extracted from graphite blocks, a readily available byproduct of nuclear fission reactors.
Scott led the team that began the first diamond battery experiments back in 2016.
He even spun out a company, Arkenlight, off the back of this research.
The decade ahead is about improving power performance and upscaling production, said Scott.
Story bySion Geschwindt
Sion is a freelance science and technology reporter, specialising in climate and energy.
