NEXT
NASA's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) is a 7-kW-class gridded-ion electric-propulsion technology derived from NSTAR. Electrical power ionizes xenon and accelerates the ions through grids, producing efficient low thrust for long-duration spaceflight. NASA's 2021 overview distinguishes system input power of 0.6–7.4 kW from component performance, listing maximum thruster efficiency of 70 percent and power-processing-unit efficiency of 94 percent. Those are different efficiency boundaries. NEXT-C brought the technology to flight on DART; Advanced NEXT is a subsequent development.
Identity
- Domains
- spaceflight
- Identity Level
- family
- Kind
- electric-thruster
- Name
- NEXT
- Status
- development
Details
- Description
- NASA's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) is a 7-kW-class gridded-ion electric-propulsion technology derived from NSTAR. Electrical power ionizes xenon and accelerates the ions through grids, producing efficient low thrust for long-duration spaceflight. NASA's 2021 overview distinguishes system input power of 0.6–7.4 kW from component performance, listing maximum thruster efficiency of 70 percent and power-processing-unit efficiency of 94 percent. Those are different efficiency boundaries. NEXT-C brought the technology to flight on DART; Advanced NEXT is a subsequent development.
- Developers
- Electric Specs
- Efficiency
- 70
- Input Power Max
- …
- Input Power Min
- …
- Specific Impulse Max
- …
- Thrust Max
- …
- Thrust Min
- …
- Lineage
- Note
- NASA's NEXT ion propulsion work is an evolutionary successor to the NSTAR flight system.
- Related Propulsion System
- Relationship
- technology-derived-from
- Sources
- Accessed Date
- 2026-07-29
- Publisher
- NASA Technical Reports Server
- Title
- NSTAR ion propulsion system
- Accessed Date
- 2026-07-29
- Publisher
- NASA Technical Reports Server
- Title
- NEXT-C Fact Sheet
- Manufacturers
- Propellants
- xenon
Links
- Official Url
- https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20250001749
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- July 29, 2026 at 10:19:53 UTC
- Updated Time
- October 17, 2026 at 12:28:44 UTC
Other
- Sources
- Accessed Date
- 2026-08-20
- Note
- NASA NEXT-C fact sheet records 0.6–7.4 kW input power, 25–235 mN thrust, maximum 4,220 s specific impulse, and 70% thruster efficiency for the 7-kW-class gridded ion system used in the DART mission context.
- Publisher
- NASA Technical Reports Server
- Title
- NASA Evolutionary Xenon Thruster-Commercial (NEXT-C)
- Accessed Date
- 2026-08-20
- Note
- NASA states NEXT-C completed performance and environmental testing and was prepared for the Double Asteroid Redirection Test; the flight thruster was designed and built by Aerojet Rocketdyne.
- Publisher
- NASA Glenn Research Center
- Title
- Powerful Thruster Is Prepared for Demonstration Mission to Asteroid
- Accessed Date
- 2026-08-20
- Note
- NASA describes ongoing Advanced NEXT development that leverages NEXT-C technology demonstrated by the DART mission and reports current thruster and power-processing-unit test work.
- Publisher
- NASA Technical Reports Server
- Title
- Development Status and Performance Metrics of the Advanced NEXT Ion Propulsion System