We recently wrote about the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization bills that would allow funding to the FAA to continue beyond Fall 2017. Now, it is likely that as Congressional leaders seem unlikely to reach...more
The commercial drone technology ecosystem has come a LONG way in the last five years, and businesses all over the world have spent years exploring the potential of drones. Over this time, there have been at least eight...more
We posted last week about the U.S. Army issuing a memorandum banning the use of DJI drones due to security concerns, but now, this week DJI reports that it is developing a new local data mode that stops internet traffic to...more
Next week, on August 21, a solar eclipse (or the alignment of the sun, moon and earth) will take place for the first time in 38 years. The last time this cosmic event occurred, there were no battery-powered...more
Last week, the U.S. Army issued a memorandum discontinuing the use of DJI drone products due to cybersecurity concerns. The memorandum said, “Due to increased awareness of cyber vulnerabilities associated with DJI products,...more
Recently, a drone carrying 16 individual bags of marijuana, cell phones and chargers, two bags of tobacco, and 31 oxycodone pills crashed into the ground near the Washington State Prison yard....more
North Carolina Governor, Roy Cooper, signed two bills this week to regulate the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS or drones). First, House Bill 337 revises existing state drone law to make that existing state drone law...more
The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Part 107 waiver process for the operation of unmanned aerial systems (UAS or drones) in certain restricted airspace or beyond the limitations of the Part 107 UAS regulations, was...more
In the last few weeks, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization bills have made their way around both houses of Congress, which will allow funding to the FAA to continue beyond Fall 2017....more
In Washington, D.C. last week, the U.S. House of Representatives Unmanned Systems Caucus and the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) held a briefing for congressional staff on technologies that...more
By Fall 2017, fifty U.S. airports swill start allowing unmanned aircraft systems’ (UAS or drone) operators apply for automated authorizations to fly in controlled airspace around those airports. Specifically, these airports...more
Taking off from the Blackpool airport in England, a drone owned by a private company called FlyLogix, set a British record last week after successfully completing a 50-mile offshore beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) round...more
More and more utility companies are finding drones (or more formally, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)) useful, and cost effective, to inspect power lines in lieu of sending up their employees to carry out the dangerous task....more
Governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, recently cut the ribbon on a new runway in Virginia dedicated solely to unmanned aerial systems (UAS or drones). The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s UAS Airfield is a 3,000-foot runway...more
On July 1, 2017, a new law in the State of Florida became effective in order to keep “local governments from regulating drone and model aircraft operations” in the State, while in turn, “protecting those who fly safely and...more
On June 16, 2017, Transport Canada, the department within the government of Canada which is responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of transportation in the country, issued an Interim Order (“the Order”)...more
Yet another piece of drone legislation is in circulation; the Safe DRONE Act of 2017 was recently introduced by U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner, John Hoeven, Catherine Cortez Masto, and Dean Heller. ...more
7/10/2017
/ Airspace ,
Commercial Use ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Drones ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Technology Sector ,
Trump Administration ,
Two For One Rule ,
Unmanned Aircraft Systems
We previously wrote about the Drone Federalism Act introduced earlier this month, and now, another bill is seeking to regulate drones at the local level. The Drone Innovation Act, H.R. 2930, introduced by Jason Lewis of...more
While drone delivery services are certainly on the agendas are large retailers like Amazon, inmates in jails across the U.S. are already using drones to receive their own aerial contraband shipments. Through a Freedom of...more
According to recent studies and statistics, unmanned aerial systems (or drones) promise to have the most dynamic growth of any sector in the aerospace industry. With the ease of airspace regulations and operational...more
Over the past decade, since the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) first permitted the use of drones for commercial and hobbyist purposes, after the 2012 directive of Congress for the FAA to come up with a “comprehensive...more
The town of Garfield, New Jersey has introduced new regulations related to hobbyist drone operation—or better yet, the non-operation of drones above residences other than your own, commercial zones, roadways, government or...more
The Drone Federalism Act of 2017, introduced by U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein, Mike Lee, Richard Blumenthal, and Tom Cotton, seeks to “establish a process for federal, state, local and tribal governments to work together to...more
As more drones take to the skies in Nevada, which is home to one of only six of the country’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Unmanned Autonomous Systems (UAS) Designated Test Sites, officials are trying to figure out...more
6/5/2017
/ Air Traffic Control Systems ,
Airlines ,
Airspace ,
Aviation Industry ,
Commercial Use ,
Drones ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
NASA ,
Technology Sector ,
Transportation Industry ,
Unmanned Aircraft Systems
President Trump’s administration is asking Congress to grant the federal government power to track, hack and destroy any type of drone that is flying over domestic soil. The draft legislation includes new exception to laws...more