AeroVironment Pitches a New Mars Helicopter

Aerospace technology firm throws its hat in the ring with a new concept for future rotorcraft missions on the Red Planet.

Jack Daleo

Friday, July 25, 2025 at 07:00 AM ET

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Jack Daleo

AeroVironment’s Skyfall concept is designed to enable future helicopter missions on Mars. [Courtesy: AeroVironment]

Key Takeaways:

AeroVironment and NASA JPL have unveiled "Skyfall," a concept for a 2028 Mars mission to deploy a fleet of six self-flying scout helicopters.
The Skyfall mission aims to explore the Martian interior for resources, identify potential human landing sites, and gather subsurface radar data.
It utilizes an innovative "Skyfall maneuver" where helicopters deploy autonomously during atmospheric descent, building on the successful technology of the *Ingenuity* Mars helicopter.

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AeroVironment’s aptly named Skyfall is like something out of a James Bond movie.

The aerospace technology firm on Thursday unveiled the concept, which it described as a system for potential future helicopter missions on Mars. Codeveloped with engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Skyfall could deploy a small fleet of self-flying rotorcraft to the Red Planet by 2028, AeroVironment said.