Nuclear Electric Propulsion Technology Maturation (NEP)

NASA TechPort describes NEP as an active Technology Demonstration Missions project led by NASA Glenn Research Center to mature reactor, power conversion, power management, heat rejection, and electric-thruster technologies toward an integrated nuclear-electric vehicle system. The maturation plan targets higher propellant efficiency and power for cislunar operations, deep-space science, and human missions, with subsystems demonstrated at subscale and coordinated with fission-surface-power investments and other government partners.