- Sky Elements and Damoda launched 71,207 drones during the record attempt
- A formation of 10,183 drones created the record-breaking blue dragon
- Each performance involved approximately 10,200 drones flying several times daily
Sky Elements teamed up with Damoda America in rural Texas to secure two Guinness World Records, launching a total of 71,207 drones within one week.
That weekly total surpassed the previous record of 55,939 launches, set earlier in 2026 by Aerial Illuminations and UVify.
On September 28 2026, the teams used 10,183 drones to form a giant blue dragon, breaking the record for the largest mythical creature depicted by multirotors.
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Shenzhen engineers bring charging launch trays
Damoda supplied the hardware and sent specialists from its Shenzhen base to work alongside American operators from Sky Elements throughout the three nights.
Sky Elements sought out Damoda for both titles because the manufacturer offers launch equipment that differs from regular setups in how each aircraft gets positioned.
Crews normally place each drone by hand, whereas Damoda units arrive in trays that store and charge them and receive each aircraft after landing.
The system simplifies transport and warehousing, since every aircraft departs from one dedicated tray and returns there after completing its flight.
Their assignment was to help the Texas crews handle faults as they arose during repeated launches of a fleet that exceeded 10,000 aircraft.
The dragon glowed in electric blue and served as the centrepiece of a programme that also featured oceanic scenes, two astronauts and a lion.
The entire event unfolded at a remote farm with few residents nearby, where the crews operated the whole fleet from one site.
Every performance involved about 10,200 drones, a volume that the crews found demanding because the fleet flew several times each day.
A thunderstorm struck after the opening show on 27 September, yet the remaining performances continued and ran through the closing night on 30 September.
“This was easily one of the most challenging drone attempts I’ve adjudicated, with the weather and the sheer scale of 10,000 drones flying multiple times a day,” said Michael Empric, the adjudicator who oversaw the attempts for Guinness.
“Yet after several very long nights (and early mornings), it was great to see everything finally come together with five successful shows on the final night.”
Fleet and Dragon breaks previous records
The dragon display broke a mark of 2,247 drones set on the final day of 2025 by an Emirati tourism authority and the emirate itself.
The new weekly total exceeded the earlier figure by 15,268 drones, while the dragon formation surpassed the Emirati mark by 7,936 aircraft.
Sky Elements already holds other titles, among them a gingerbread village built from 4,981 drones and a fictional figure made from 4,979.
Its other entries include a cowboy hat image made from 519 drones and an animation that lasted 30 minutes, the longest by unmanned aircraft.
Though an adjudicator attended the attempts, no independent data in the available account shows how reliably the tray system handles storms or daily launches.
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