News

A new report forecasts that the commercial drone market will exceed $15.1 billion by 2027. The Strategy Analytics Advanced Defense Systems (ADS) service report, “Commercial UAS Market Outlook 2017-2027” predicts that 49% of demand for commercial drone platforms by 2027 will be in the agriculture, commercial security and first responder …

At the World Economic Forum’s meeting in Davos, the Advanced Drone Operators Toolkit – a user-manual for governments wanting to scale drone delivery – was released.  This open source resource is a collection of lessons learned, a collaboration with 10 civil aviation authorities from five continents, 8 international government organizations and …

News and Commentary. Recently, my phone has been ringing off the hook (or out of my pocket, I’m not that old) with reporters of the general media asking for commentary on the latest airport disruption. Over and over, I have had to explain that “just shooting them down” is not …

Before Christmas, air traffic at London’s Gatwick airport was brought to a standstill for 36 hours after witnesses reported the presence of a drone nearby. In early January, departures at London Heathrow were briefly halted after a drone sighting. This week, flights in and out of New Jersey’s Newark Liberty …

Earlier this month, Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao addressed the Transportation Research Board and revealed details of several new drone industry initiatives. Among them was a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that could open up the skies for flights at night and over people. There was also an announcement about a UTM …

Israeli drone provider Airobotics this week secured the first-ever approval by Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority to operate drones beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) from a remote operations center. In addition, the unique waiver allows the company to operate without the need of an air crew on site, making it the …

U.S. enthusiast community watches closely as the Feds begin to propose new rules. The following is a guest post from John Saginario: FPV flyer, writer and host of the Wild Flyers podcast. As the partial government continues in the U.S. with no immediate end in sight, it appears the Federal …

Successful pilot flight lays the groundwork for future commercial drone use in Indonesia Taken from a JD.com press release: JD.com, China’s largest retailer, today announced the completion of Indonesia’s first government approved drone flight – a breakthrough for drone delivery in Southeast Asia. The successful pilot opens the door for …

Management at Oregon-based drone company FLIR Systems better brush up on their French. The company just landed an $89 million contract from the French Defense Procurement Agency in support of the French Operational Pocket Drone (DrOP) program. The contract will deploy the company’s FLIR Black Hornet 3 nano-unmanned drone to …

Commercial drone solution provider Delair this week announced the release of an new integration to its Trimble Business Center software. The integration enables geospatial professionals to drag and drop data from the Delair UX11 PPK drone system directly into Trimble Business Center projects. Users can combine high-quality flight data with other sensor …