NASA Solar Technology Application Readiness

[3] The NSTAR electrostatic ion thruster was developed at NASA's Glenn Research Center and manufactured by Hughes, and Spectrum Astro, Inc. in the early 1990s.

[5] In 1996, the prototype engine endured 8000 hours of continuous operation in a vacuum chamber that simulates conditions of outer space.

This is an order of magnitude higher than traditional space propulsion methods, resulting in a mass savings of approximately half.

[4] The second interplanetary mission using NSTAR engine was the Dawn spacecraft, launched in 2007 with three redundant units[9] with a 30 cm diameter each.

[11] Dawn carried 425 kg (937 lb) of on-board xenon propellant, and was able to perform a velocity change of 25,700 mph (11.49 km/s) over the mission.