NEXT-C Ion Propulsion System
Aerojet Rocketdyne (L3Harris)
7 kW gridded ion propulsion system based on NASA Glenn technology, flown as a technology demonstration on NASA's DART mission.
Key figurescomparable across the catalogue
- Power
- 7,000 W
Normalised to common units so this product can be compared with others in its category. The supplier's own wording is below.
As published by the supplier
- Power level
- 7 kW
- Type
- Gridded ion propulsion system
- Technology basis
- NASA Glenn Research Center mission-proven technology
- Flight heritage
- NASA DART mission, launched 2021 (technology demonstration)
About
NEXT-C is a next-generation solar electric propulsion system designed and built by L3Harris based on mission-proven technology developed at NASA’s Glenn Research Center. The 7 kW NEXT-C Ion System made its debut on NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, which launched in 2021. The NEXT-C system served as a technology demonstration on the spacecraft during DART’s successful mission.
Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) is commonly used to transfer satellites to their proper orbital locations and keep them on station once there. Energized by the electric power from on-board solar arrays, SEP systems use significantly less propellant than comparable, conventional chemical propulsion systems, giving lower launch mass, additional payload capacity and extended maneuvering and mission lifetimes.
L3Harris is the world leader in the development, qualification and flight of electric propulsion systems, having delivered more than 600 electric propulsion thrusters that have flown on over 250 satellites to date.
Documentation
No public datasheet yet — request the datasheet / ICD from the supplier.