NASA has opened the Advanced Mid-Power Electric Rocket, or AMPERE, Challenge to develop and demonstrate Hall thruster prototypes operating in the three-to-seven-kilowatt range. Announced on November 9, 2026, the three-phase competition offers $500,000 in total prizes and access to NASA testing and technology.
Up to two winning teams can each receive as much as $250,000. The competition is open to companies incorporated in the United States that maintain their primary place of business there. Registration closes January 27, 2027.
The challenge focuses on prototypes in a specified electrical-power class. NASA identifies the three-to-seven-kilowatt range as relevant to satellite, defense, and exploration missions. The program combines commercial hardware development with performance demonstrations in NASA test facilities.
Turning Electricity Into Thrust
A Hall thruster produces thrust by accelerating electrically charged propellant. NASA’s in-space propulsion reference describes a system that uses an electric field and a magnetic field near the thruster’s discharge-channel exit. Electrons collide with incoming neutral gas and turn it into ions, creating an electrically conducting gas called plasma.
The electric field accelerates the positively charged ions out of the thruster. Their departing momentum produces thrust in the opposite direction. The magnetic field mainly controls the electrons, which are much lighter than the ions and respond differently to the same field.
A cathode supplies electrons to the discharge and helps neutralize the exhaust plume. Neutralization balances the departing positive charge. The anode at the rear of the discharge chamber also commonly distributes the incoming propellant.
Hall thrusters have flown using xenon, krypton, and argon. The gas serves as the material accelerated by the electrical system. It is distinct from the electricity supplying the energy for that acceleration.
What the Power Range Describes
A kilowatt measures the rate at which electrical energy is supplied. The challenge’s power range identifies the operating scale of the propulsion hardware being developed. It is different from thrust, which measures force, and from total impulse, which measures the accumulated effect of that force over time.
Electric propulsion separates its energy supply from the propellant that carries momentum away. The spacecraft supplies electricity to the propulsion system, and the thruster uses that energy to accelerate the gas. In a chemical rocket, the energy instead comes from chemical reactions involving the propellants.
These operating principles make electric propulsion useful for maneuvers carried out over extended periods. A spacecraft can accumulate a change in velocity through sustained firing. The propulsion equipment works with its electrical supply, propellant storage and feed system, control electronics, and spacecraft operations.
Demonstrating a Commercial Prototype
AMPERE’s stated activity is the development and demonstration of mid-power prototypes. A prototype provides hardware whose operation can be measured in a test facility. The challenge’s three phases organize that work and the associated prize opportunities.
NASA’s announcement places testing access alongside cash prizes. The facility component gives participating hardware a defined setting for demonstrating performance. Technology access is also part of the offered support, connecting the competition to the agency’s electric-propulsion work.
The electrical and propulsion measurements describe different aspects of the operating system. Input power records the energy rate supplied to the equipment. Thrust records the force produced, and propellant flow records how much material passes through the system. Together, such quantities describe how a thruster converts its supplied resources into a spacecraft maneuvering capability.
The challenge is accepting entries from eligible U.S. commercial companies until January 27, 2027. Its announced output is demonstrated three-to-seven-kilowatt Hall thruster hardware, supported by the three-phase prize program and NASA testing access.
