Advanced NEXT Ion Propulsion System
Advanced NEXT is a NASA-led, high-thrust-to-power gridded-ion propulsion system derived from the NEXT-C flight design. A 2025 NASA conference paper reports 330 mN demonstrated thrust at an 8.2 kW-class system integration test, 2,500–3,400 s specific impulse across the throttle table, and 67% maximum thruster efficiency; development and life/qualification work remain ongoing. This record describes the propulsion system, not a spacecraft installation.
Identity
- Aliases
- Advanced NEXTAdvanced NEXT ion thrusterNASA Advanced NEXT
- Domains
- spaceflight
- Identity Level
- model
- Kind
- electric-thruster
- Name
- Advanced NEXT Ion Propulsion System
- Status
- development
Details
- Description
- Advanced NEXT is a NASA-led, high-thrust-to-power gridded-ion propulsion system derived from the NEXT-C flight design. A 2025 NASA conference paper reports 330 mN demonstrated thrust at an 8.2 kW-class system integration test, 2,500–3,400 s specific impulse across the throttle table, and 67% maximum thruster efficiency; development and life/qualification work remain ongoing. This record describes the propulsion system, not a spacecraft installation.
- Developers
- Electric Specs
- Efficiency
- 0.67
- Input Power Max
- …
- Specific Impulse Max
- …
- Specific Impulse Min
- …
- Thrust Max
- …
- Thrust Min
- …
- Lineage
- Note
- Advanced NEXT modifies the NEXT-C flight design's discharge cathode, ion optics, and power-processing unit to increase thrust-to-power capability without significantly changing mass or volume.
- Related Propulsion System
- Relationship
- technology-derived-from
- Sources
- Accessed Date
- 2026-08-21
- Note
- NASA's 2025 Advanced NEXT paper explicitly identifies the system as a derivative of the NEXT-C flight design and describes the modifications and measured performance.
- Publisher
- NASA Technical Reports Server
- Title
- Development Status and Performance Metrics of the Advanced NEXT Ion Propulsion System
- Propellants
- xenon
Links
- Official Url
- https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20250008559
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- August 7, 2026 at 03:35:31 UTC
- Updated Time
- October 17, 2026 at 00:53:17 UTC
Other
- Sources
- Accessed Date
- 2026-10-17
- Note
- NASA’s 2025 paper reports Advanced NEXT system integration testing, including a high-purity xenon feed to the discharge cathode, neutralizer cathode and main discharge chamber (PDF p.8). The existing 330 mN and efficiency figures remain test results, not flight-qualified installation ratings.
- Publisher
- NASA Technical Reports Server
- Title
- Development Status and Performance Metrics of the Advanced NEXT Ion Propulsion System
- Accessed Date
- 2026-08-21
- Note
- The NASA NEXT-C source provides the exact predecessor's flight-design identity and keeps the Advanced NEXT lineage edge distinct from NEXT-C's own DART flight heritage.
- Publisher
- NASA Glenn Research Center
- Title
- NASA’s Evolutionary Xenon Thruster-Commercial (NEXT-C)