Skydweller Aero
Skydweller Aero, of Oklahoma City, builds solar-powered autonomous aircraft designed to stay aloft for very long periods.
Founded in 2019 with 51 to 200 staff, it flew a 73-hour nonstop solar mission in July 2025 during a US Navy evaluation, logging nearly 223 hours over 20 days with autonomous weather avoidance. The aircraft is still under government evaluation; endurance of months at a time is a design goal.
No verified deployments yet
Skydweller Aero is profiled in the companies register, but no deployment has been verified against published evidence. Records are added as evidence is reviewed and graded.
Products & Solutions
1 productSkydweller UAS (MAPS - Medium-Altitude Pseudo-Satellite)
Ultra-large autonomous solar-powered uncrewed aircraft designed for extreme-endurance missions of 30 to 90+ days. The aircraft functions as a persistent airborne platform carrying sensor, communications, and surveillance payloads for long-duration operations without refueling or crew on board.
Eliminates the endurance and cost constraints of conventional crewed or combustion-powered unmanned aircraft for persistent surveillance, communications relay, and maritime patrol missions. A single aircraft can replace a fleet of conventional platforms at 10x to 100x lower operating cost, with zero carbon emissions.
- Perpetual solar-powered flight capability (30-90+ days demonstrated)
- Wingspan of 236 ft, larger than a Boeing 747
- Payload capacity up to 800 lbs (400 kg), highest of any solar-powered long-endurance UAS
- Quadruple-redundant autonomous flight control and Vehicle Management System (VMS)
8 more features
- Self-healing software algorithms enabling in-flight fault correction and restoration of redundancy
- BLOS take-off, flight, and landing capability
- Continuous solar power generation with average 2 kW and up to 100 kW instantaneous output for payloads
- Automatic gust-load alleviation software in flight control system
- Multi-INT sensor payload integration capability
- Communications relay capability including JADC2-configured radios
- Multi-link BLOS communications for command, control, and data distribution
- Zero carbon footprint, minimal acoustic signature
Technical specifications (9)
- Wingspan: 236 ft (72 m)
- Maximum takeoff weight: under 5,000 lbs (approx. 2,270 kg)
- Payload capacity: up to 800 lbs (362 kg) / 400 kg
- Average power output for payloads: 2 kW continuous; up to 100 kW instantaneous
- Solar cells: over 17,000 individual cells across approx. 2,900 sq ft (270 sq m) of wing surface
- Battery storage: over 1,400 lbs (635 kg) of batteries for night flight
- Typical operating altitude: 24,600 - 34,400 ft (7,500 - 10,500 m); daytime max up to 44,600 ft (13,600 m)
- Demonstrated endurance: 74 hours 3 minutes (single flight, July 2025); 222 hours 46 minutes over 20-day campaign
- Construction: carbon fiber airframe
Register notes
Notes held in the Aerostack register. Aerostack has not independently verified them.
Skydweller is developing an ultra-long-endurance autonomous aircraft capable of staying airborne for weeks at a time using solar power supplemented by hydrogen fuel cells, effectively a persistent airborne platform rather than a conventional aircraft.
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This creates a unique market position between satellites (expensive, fixed orbit) and conventional UAVs (limited endurance) for applications including maritime surveillance, 5G/connectivity delivery, and persistent ISR. Primary customers are US and European defence and intelligence agencies.
Competitors include Airbus Zephyr (high-altitude pseudo-satellite programme) and Vanilla Aircraft.
The partnership with Nokia to develop 5G connectivity from the platform (announced October 2025) adds a commercial market dimension.
The US Navy's 90-day endurance drone programme (reported October 2025) is directly aligned with Skydweller's capabilities.
Profile data from the Aerostack companies register; deployment records from the verified register. Evidence grades: T1 first-party confirmation, T2 credible reporting. See Our approach for how records are graded.