Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) 12kW Hall Current Thruster Program Overview

Aerojet Rocketdyne (AR) Inc., an L3 Harris Technologies Company, in collaboration with NASA, has developed a 12-kW Hall Current Thruster in support of the NASA Gateway mission to establish a permanent human presence in lunar orbit. AR has completed all development phases of the program, including full development and integration testing of the Engineering Model hardware, Critical Design Review, and ground test equipment validation. Qualification testing to support verification of the environmental and life requirements of the AEPS design has commenced and is expected to complete in 2027. Testing is conducted on two thruster units, a stand-alone cathode, and critical components including magnet heaters, temperature sensors, cathode heaters, and magnetic coils. This paper will present an overview of the AEPS program, thruster capabilities, flight design, and preliminary results from thruster and component qualification testing.