NEXT: NASA's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster Development Status

Abstract

NASA’s Glenn Research Center (GRC) is leading the development of NASA’s Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) system. The central feature of the NEXT system is an electric propulsion thruster that inherits the knowledge gained through the NSTAR thruster that successfully propelled the Deep Space 1 to asteroid Braille and comet Borrelly, while significantly increasing the thruster power level and making improvements in performance parameters associated with NSTAR. The thruster under development has a 40 cm beam diameter, twice the effective area of the Deep-Space 1 thruster. It incorporates mechanical features and operating conditions to maximize the design heritage established by the flight NSTAR 30 cm thruster, while incorporating new technology where warranted to extend the power and throughput capability. To date three engineering-model thrusters have been manufactured at NASA GRC, and performance, wear, vibration, and integration testing of these thrusters is underway.