1 DEVELOPMENT STATUS OF NEXT: NASA’S EVOLUTIONARY XENON THRUSTER

The need for advanced ion propulsion system capabilities has been demonstrated through in-space propulsion technology assessment analyses conducted by NASA. The NEXT system is targeted for robotic exploration of the outer planets using 25kW-class solar-powered electric propulsion. The team will develop thruster, advanced power processing, xenon propellant management and gimbal technologies that will advance the ion propulsion state-of-art to meet the needs of such missions. The development is being conducted in two phases, with breadboard level development and integration in Phase 1, and engineering model development and integration of a multi-thruster system planned for Phase 2. The NEXT project is intended to advance the technology to NASA Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 5, with significant progress towards TRL 6. This paper presents a summary of the overall NEXT project status. Mission and system requirements are highlighted. The NEXT ion propulsion system technology approach, overall characteristics and hardware development status are summarized. The NEXT project status, including schedule, product and mileston