News

While California’s Camp Fire has earned the infamous title of costliest world disaster of 2018, the aftermath could have been worse, say fire experts, had it not been for drones. The series of wildfires claimed more than 80 lives and destroyed thousands of buildings across Butte County. However, thanks to …

American insurance giant State Farm is flying into uncharted skies today after the company received the first-ever national drone-flight waiver granted to a corporation by the FAA. The waiver will allow State Farm to fly drones over people and beyond visual line of sight through November 2022. Last year, the …

A matter of days after London Gatwick was shut for 36 hours following reports of drones flying above the airport, reported drone sightings have halted departures at Heathrow, London’s busiest airport. The situation does not appear to be as serious as that which unfolded at Gatwick in late December. We …

In October we published a brief investigation into goings on at the Mota Group, the company that purchased the marketing and branding rights to the original (and doomed) Lily Drone project. As part of the Mota Group’s marketing efforts, the company used its newly acquired list of let down Lily …

Aerial photography social media platform Dronestagram has today announced the winners of its fifth annual Drone Photography Contest. Previously the competition has been split into multiple categories, but this time around the organizers decided to simplify the process and award a simple 1st, 2nd and 3rd ranking to the best …

A consortium of university and corporate UAS players just made the skies safer for drones over North Dakota and their achievement is likely to soar into the global community. The University of North Dakota, in cooperation with aerospace company Harris Corporation and the  Northern Plains UAS Test Site, last month …

As commercial drones take flight more and more across Europe, regulators are joining forces with UAS companies to establish standardized drone rules and traffic management best practices across the continent. A group of 13 public and private organizations recently created the SAFIR consortium to “demonstrate integrated Drone Traffic Management for …

A legal battle in Washington State may define the state’s future approach to aerial rights and drone law. Fort Discovery Inc., developer of a civilian gun range/military and law enforcement training facility in Port Townsend, Wash., has filed multiple lawsuits against Tarboo Ridge Coalition, a group opposing the construction. According …

Autonomous drone company Apollo Robotics is launching an early-bird program allowing professional drone industry players to pre-order new products. The Ventura, Calif.-based firm has launched the Apollo Development Partner Program which will give early access to fully automated, autonomous surveying drone platforms to qualified professionals. The Apollo system combines multi-sensor …

Japanese UAV company Terra Drone’s South African division is partnering with one of the continent’s largest mining companies to get a better look at sites from above. Terra Drone is looking to expand its nine branches all over the world and is focusing on providing UAS solutions to mining, oil …