Overview of Hall Thruster Activities at NASA Glenn Research Center

NASA Glenn Research Center is developing low, mid, and high power Hall thrusters for implementation on NASA science and exploration missions. NASA Glenn is working with the Busek Company on incorporating a life-extending discharge channel replacement innovation onto Busek's 600 W thruster to increase its xenon propellant throughtput capability by a factor of 10. Under the sponsorship of NASA Science Mission Directorate's In-Space Propulsion Technology Program, NASA Glenn and Aerojet are developing a flight-like, 3.5 kW high voltage Hall accelerator with specific impulse magnitudes of up to 2,700 s and a xenon throughput capability in excess of 300 kg. Development of the power processing unit and xenon feed system for the 3.5 kW Hall system are also being carried out. Finally, under the support of NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate and NASA's Office of Chief Technologist, NASA Glenn is engaging in high power Hall thruster development activities that include: high power (20-50 kW) Hall thruster testing, fabrication and testing of high current cathodes, plasma diagnostics implementation, physics-based modeling with NASA JPL, structural and thermal Hall thruster modeling, and development of roadmaps and tools for high-power discharge module technologies.