Firefly wins $13M NASA JPL subcontract for Mars SkyFall aeroshell

Firefly Aerospace said on July 7 it received a $13 million subcontract from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to manufacture, test and deliver the aeroshell for NASA's SkyFall mission to Mars, targeted to launch in late 2028. SkyFall is designed to deploy three heritage-design Mars helicopters to perform science and demonstrate airborne subsurface mapping and resource prospecting. Firefly said it is the first contract awarded to its Gloworks innovation lab, broadening the company's work beyond launch and lunar landers into deep-space hardware.