AEPS Advanced Electric Propulsion System
Aerojet Rocketdyne (L3Harris)
12 kW Hall thruster developed with NASA Glenn and JPL; three units will provide primary propulsion for the lunar Gateway Power and Propulsion Element.
Typed specifications1 values
Discloses 0 of 11 fields engineers filter by in this category (category median 3).
- Power consumption
- 12 W product page
Each value is typed with its unit and measurement condition and cites the datasheet page it was taken from. Nothing is guessed: a field that is absent here has not been published by the manufacturer. machine-extracted ✓ checked by NewSpace Market ✓ manufacturer confirmed by the manufacturer.
As published by the supplier5 lines, in the manufacturer's own wording
- Power level
- 12 kW
- Type
- Hall effect electric propulsion thruster
- Development partners
- NASA Glenn Research Center, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Status
- Development testing completed 2021; qualification testing started at NASA Glenn 2023
- Application
- Three thrusters as primary propulsion for the lunar Gateway Power and Propulsion Element
About
Developed with NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), L3Harris’ Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) thruster completed development testing in 2021 and began qualification testing at NASA Glenn in 2023. AEPS operates at 12 kW, more than twice the power level of electric thrusters flying on satellites today.
Three AEPS thrusters will serve as the primary source of propulsion on the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) for NASA’s international lunar Gateway to enable orbit transfer and in-space maneuvering.
Solar Electric Propulsion systems, energized by the electric power from on-board solar arrays, use significantly less propellant than comparable conventional chemical propulsion systems. In addition to satellite operations, SEP systems are key to enabling future crewed deep space missions, playing a critical role in the efficient transfer of cargo and payloads to deep space ahead of crew arrival.
Documentation
No public datasheet yet — request the datasheet / ICD from the supplier.