Rocketmine Recieves BVLOS Authorization in South Africa

South Africa has an enormous potential marketplace for business drones, providing alternatives for drone expertise in mining, agriculture, supply, and different areas.  Approval for business operators, nevertheless, has been gradual in coming.  Commercial drone firm Rocketmine is main the way in which in the nation for brand new operations by receiving authorization for flight past visible line of sight (BVLOS.)

 

The following is taken from a Rocketmine press launch.

Rocketmine has simply obtained Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) approval for the flight of their business drones from the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA). They at the moment are solely the second South African operator, in 4 years of drone laws, to be accredited for BVLOS.

The present SACAA legal guidelines for drone operators for Visual Line of Site (VLOS) operations restrict flights to a radius of 500m from the drone operator and a most upward distance of 120m. With an observer stationed on the most radius of VLOS, Extended Visual Line of Site (EVLOS) might be accredited which accommodates for a radius of as much as 1000m from the pilot. BVLOS, then again, permits for a flight radius past 1km with out an observer.

“This BVLOS approval enables us to offer our clients more applications for our drone services at their sites more cost-effectively. We are able to cover a larger area which is extremely beneficial on large mining sites,” explains Christopher Clark, Rocketmine’s Managing Director. “BVLOS operations also come with an increased safety risk, as there is no visual site of the actual drone. In response to this, Rocketmine has had to improve its operational processes to accommodate for the approval to mitigate against factors that would be safety concern.”

The SACAA has very stringent and rigorous processes in place for operators to show they’re able to meet the necessities for BVLOS operations. The largest concern with BVLOS is security of the general public as nicely of manned airspace visitors. Of the 25 authorized operators in South Africa solely two have obtained approval to fly BVLOS.

“The approval for Rocketmine to perform BVLOS operations once again demonstrates that we are industry leaders, always ensuring we are keeping up with the latest technological developments and applications,” states Christopher Clark. “We are excited to include BVLOS in both our current and new projects.”

We had checked in with Christopher Clark and he added, “Our service offerings give us a competitive advantage. We are fully licensed by the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) and Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). In addition, we recently obtained both Basic Compliance Verification (BCV) and Basic Aviation Risk Standards (BARS) certifications; which is a first in Africa for any drone company.”