NASA: Pushing the Limits of Sub-Kilowatt Electric Propulsion Technology to Enable Planetary Exploration and Commercial Mission Concepts

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"NASA has developed an advanced propulsion technology to facilitate future planetary exploration missions using small spacecraft. Not only will this technology enable new types of planetary science missions, one of NASA’s commercial partners is already preparing to use it for another purpose—to extend the lifetimes of spacecraft that are already in orbit. ...
Small spacecraft using the NASA-H71M electric propulsion technology will be able to independently maneuver from low-Earth orbit (LEO) to the Moon or even from a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) to Mars. ..."

Pushing the Limits of Sub-Kilowatt Electric Propulsion Technology to Enable Planetary Exploration and Commercial Mission Concepts - NASA Science Northrop Grumman NGHT-1X engineering model Hall-effect thruster operating in Glenn Research Center Vacuum Facility 8. The design of the NGHT-1X is based on the NASA-H71M Hall-effect thruster.

Left: NASA-H71M Hall-effect thruster on the Glenn Research Center Vacuum Facility 8 thrust stand. Right: Dr. Jonathan Mackey tuning the thrust stand prior to closing and pumping down the test facility.