In early November 2025 I posted a cool image from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) that had the very provocative label “Characterize Possible Rotorcraft Landing Site”. While this was not the first such image taken by scientists using MRO to scout out potential landing zones for future Mars helicopter missions (see here and here), this particular image was one of several taken recently that were all within the candidate landing zone for SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft, focused specifically on the low Erebus mountain chain that sits within this part of Mars’ northern lowland plains.

In the January image download from MRO, I found another such image, taken on December 1, 2025. The map to the right shows that Starship candidate landing zone, with all the images taken for SpaceX indicated. The inset adds all the recent images taken for this “possible rotorcraft” mission, including the December image and the previous four (here, here, here, and here), with orange representing images already obtained and yellow those requested but pending.

I decided I needed to find out more, and tracked down the scientist who had requested the images, Eldar Dobrea of the Planetary Science Institute in Arizona. In response to my email, he explained:

This is part of an unfunded study that I have been performing with some colleagues in our spare time. Although there is great interest in the community in seeing future rotorcraft missions, there is no such mission on the horizon. This is the kind of work we tend to do a decade before anything else happens, in our spare time, in the interest of moving the idea forward.

…I am interested in the region as well, for the same reasons (access to water ice) [as SpaceX]. Unfortunately, the areas in this region are difficult to land, and mostly intransitable to a rover. I undertook a short study to identify locations where we could land, with the understanding that a rotorcraft, rather than a rover, would be the appropriate exploration platform in this region. Whereas Starship could certainly be a way to get a rotorcraft to Mars, it is in my mind not the preferred method given that they are still far from having the ability to land on Mars.

In a follow-up email, Dobrea confirmed that they have had no discussions with SpaceX so far. Their work is simply focused on finding a good site for future exploration, using a helicopter.

At the same time, Dobrea and his colleagues are also positioning themselves perfectly for when Starship begins flying and landing. They will have done the research, and I am sure their project will include people who worked on Ingenuity. SpaceX meanwhile will be getting ready to send Starships to Mars in great numbers (as shown in the table below), and will definitely want to include science research missions to help scout this landing zone.

The Musk game plan for Mars exploration over the next few years.

This table comes from an Elon Musk presentation in May 2025. It is a typical Musk schedule, very aggressive and not likely to be met, but realistic enough to produce results that are only a little delayed. For example, though it is certain SpaceX will not send Starships to Mars in the 2026 launch window as hoped, the present pace of Starship development strongly says it will be able to do so in 2028-29. And if those missions are too preliminary and risky for Dobrea’s tastes, the ’30-31 window is only two years later.

Note also what Musk wants to do on those first Martian Starships: “Send min[imum] viable vehicles with goal of maximizing learning.” Seems to me that describes Dobrea’s rotorcraft mission quite nicely.

Thus, the moment when both groups will want to begin these discussions is really not that far off. If Dobrea and his team are not considering doing so at this time, they sure should consider doing so in the very near future.