[NASA]. Equipped with four instruments each, the three SkyFall Mars helicopters helicopters will follow in the footsteps of the agency’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, a technology demonstrator that flew 72 times over nearly three years, proving that powered, controlled flight is possible in the rarefied Martian atmosphere.
It also demonstrated how an aerial perspective can generate valuabledata by helping NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover team plan time-saving routes and choose locations for science-gathering.
SkyFall is expected to launch aboard NASA’s Space Reactor-1 Freedom in late 2028.
The SkyFall project, which will carry three Mars helicopters to the Red Planet in December 2028, is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
AeroVironment of Arlington, Virginia — which worked with JPL to design and build the history-making Ingenuity rotorcraft — will co-design and co-manufacture the SkyFall helicopters. Managed by Caltech for NASA, JPL manages the overall Mars Exploration Program on behalf of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
For more information about NASA’s SkyFall: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/skyfall/
Astrobiology
