NASA's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT)

Aerojet has delivered the first of a new generation of propulsion thrusters to NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, OH (USA). NASA's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) is capable of operating continuously in excess of 30,000 hours to provide the large impulse needed for outer planetary exploration missions. The NEXT thrust level is three times higher than the NASA Solar Electric Propulsion Technology Application Readiness (NSTAR) ion thruster used on the Deep Space One mission. Fuel efficiency, or specific impulse, is 30 percent higher than the NSTAR ion thruster and is a ten-fold increase over today's chemical rocket engines. In addition, spacecraft using NEXT propulsion will use just 10 percent of the propellant of conventional chemical rocket propelled spacecraft.