Information
August 28, 2026
ARLINGTON, Virginia. AeroVironment gained a contract to co-design and co-manufacture three autonomous helicopters with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for the company’s SkyFall mission to Mars, the corporate introduced in an announcement.
The mission is deliberate to launch in late 2028 and can use three instrument-carrying helicopters designed to enter the Martian ambiance, separate from their provider spacecraft, descend, and land below their very own energy, the assertion reads.
AeroVironment will develop parts together with rotor techniques, airframes, buildings, avionics integration, and lodging for science payloads, whereas JPL will develop the facility system, electronics, algorithms, and software program, in response to the corporate.
Every plane will carry a JPL-developed ground-penetrating radar meant to map subsurface ice. Further devices will gather information on the Martian ambiance, mud transport, and different environmental situations, AeroVironment says.
The SkyFall plane construct on know-how developed for NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, which accomplished 72 flights on Mars, the assertion reads.
NASA is focusing on a November 2028 launch window for the mission.
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