12-kW Advanced Electric Propulsion System Hall Current Thruster Qualification and Production Status

Initial developments by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of a 12-kW-class Hall thruster began with maturation of the Hall Effect Rocket with Magnetic Shielding, which was then transitioned to industry via the Advanced Electric Propulsion System contract. This contract was awarded to Aerojet Rocketdyne (now part of L3Harris) in 2016 with the goal of developing and fully qualifying a 12 kW Hall thruster for NASA and commercial applications, with its first intended use on the Power and Propulsion Element as part of NASA’s Gateway lunar space station. This paper describes the status of the contract, including production and qualification efforts after the thruster design successfully passed Critical Design Review in 2022, as well as NASA-led independent testing in support of development and qualification. To-date, the first qualification thruster has successfully undergone pre-environmental characterization testing, qualification vibration and shock testing, with preparations for thermal vacuum testing underway at time of writing. Additional qualification testing of components such as the cathode, magnet coils, and thermal components are ongoing to demonstrate design robustness of these critical thruster elements. Flight hardware fabrication and testing is expected to be completed by 2025, at which point the hardware will be delivered to Maxar Technologies for integration and use on the Power and Propulsion Element spacecraft.