Testing a Flexible, Fabric-based Radar Antenna | NASA’s SkyFall Mars Helicopters

Testing a Flexible, Fabric-based Radar Antenna | NASA’s SkyFall Mars Helicopters

When NASA’s SkyFall helicopters take to the Martian skies, one of their tasks will be to hunt for frozen water—a critical resource for future astronauts—using ground-penetrating radar. For that radar to work, the rotorcraft will carry a flexible, fabric-based antenna that extends below the aircraft without interfering with landings or breaking at touchdown. 

This video showcases testing recently completed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory that demonstrates how the flexible antenna will function during takeoffs and landings.

Equipped with four instruments each, the three SkyFall aircraft follow in the footsteps of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, which 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 valuable data 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.

These next-generation helicopters could travel farther, carry more, and help scientists and mission planners better understand the Martian surface, paving the way for the next era of exploration.

Learn more at: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/skyfall/

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Duration: 54 seconds
Release Date: Aug. 6, 2026

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