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Influential industry leaders will advocate for policies that enable drone operations in the United States to scale safely and securely

Skydweller Aero Inc., an aerospace company developing solar-powered aircraft for defense and commercial industries, today announced the successful completion of its first autonomous flight test demonstrations utilizing the company's new proprietary fly-by-wire (FBW) actuation control system.

A recent report by Verizon and the FAA indicates that mobile connectivity is a valid and desirable form of control over drones and UAVs. A paper by Ericsson from 2019 explores the topic and addresses the requirements needed to support drone operations.  Drone connectivity experts Elsight agree,

In 2013, Jeff Bezos revealed plans for Prime Air – Amazon's drone delivery service. 2014 saw announcements of major logistics companies partnering with emerging drone startups. By 2017, there was radio silence. The hype largely fizzled out and drone delivery never really materialized beyond basic proof of concept tests. Only a few companies were the exception, such as Zipline, which thrived on highly-specific use cases.

The drone industry is ready to scale.  Drones are increasingly visible on worksites that range from construction to telecomm, and in residential areas for applications like delivery or power line maintenance.

The unmanned traffic management market is expected to grow from US$ 867.99 million in 2022 to US$ 3,217.40 million by 2030; it is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 17.8% from 2022 to 2030.

The rapidly growing use of drones in industries and governments worldwide means that users are demanding more in terms of performance and productivity.

The Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) and SAE International will co-host the second edition of their Business of Automated Mobility Forum: Flight Path to UAM on September 27-28, 2022.

At this morning's Commercial UAV Expo Keynotes,  Commercial UAV Expo Editor Jeremiah Karpowitz and Skydio Co-Founder and CEO Adam Bry discussed how the concept of automation and reliability inform the ROI of commercial drones.

Innovative entrepreneurs continue to come up with new ways in which drones can be used to perform a wide range of jobs that had previously required human workers, more efficiently, at a lower cost and more safely, than was previously possible.

The global eVTOL aircraft market is anticipated to grow tremendously by 2033, mainly due to the launch of advanced eVTOL aircraft services. Also, continuous innovations and research in the unmanned aerial technology are expected to make the optionally piloted sub-segment of the market as the most dominant one. Market in the North America region is predicted to witness substantial growth opportunities by 2033.

UAVOS, a developer and manufacturer of security and commercial solutions based on advanced Unmanned Systems, has completed a drone-based forest inspection project to assess the general timber environment. Combining digital data and UAVOS's customized software has provided innovative analysis of forestry data. UAVOS's methodology is an advance for forestry, allowing foresters not only to optimize and improve the way data is collected and analyzed on a daily basis but also helping to reduce environmental risks and to generate economic wealth in the sector. The project has been carried out under partnership with a forestry and land management company. 

DroneNerds is a top drone reseller, offering a wide variety of services and support.  They've helped enterprise clients from many different verticals – and they've published a new ebook based on their experience supporting clients to help new entrants implement a successful enterprise drone program.  The following is a DroneNerds guest post by Senior Marketing Manager, Ana Coronel.  The full eBook, 8 Tips for UAV Program Implementation Success, can be downloaded here.

Urban electric aircraft have been a fun topic for several years, yet we also don't really actually have any urban electric aircraft on the market. One day? One of the things that perk up my ears in this field is when a major automaker gets behind a product or buy a startup. After all, automakers are in the business of making and selling millions of complex, heavily regulated, consumer vehicles. On that topic, news this week is that Hyundai Motor Group is more focused than ever on developing "commercial urban and regional air vehicles and surrounding market." The latter indicates that even if Hyundai Motor Group isn't developing the vehicles, it is developing components of the vehicles.

Supernal is a Hyundai Motor Group-owned advanced air mobility service provider.

Supernal is a Hyundai Motor Group-owned advanced air mobility service provider.

This past April, the AT&T drone team took to a field in rural Missouri to test its new Flying COW® (Cell on Wings), marking the first time AT&T has transmitted its 5G network from a drone.

The commercialization of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) necessitates that their control becomes more precise and responsive. For instance, drone delivery necessitates transporting goods to a confined target area in a variety of weather conditions; drone rescue and search necessitates entering and searching collapsed buildings with limited space; and urban air mobility necessitates a flying car to closely adhere to a planned trajectory to avoid collision in the presence of strong, unpredictable winds.

Advanced air mobility (AAM) vehicles may be the aviation industry's shiny new object, but there is more to consider before they become commercially viable—not the least of which is the ground infrastructure that will support them, AAM stakeholders say.

German drone delivery company Wingcopter announced on May 11th that the Federal Aviation Administration has issued the Special Class Airworthiness Criteria for the Wingcopter 198 US unmanned aircraft. This approval marks an important milestone in the certification process of Wingcopter's flagship eVTOL delivery drone in the U.S.

Romeo Durscher, VP of Public Safety at open source drone platform Auterion is a drone industry hero, paving the way for drone use in emergency response and public safety.  In a DRONELIFE Exclusive interview from the floor of AUVSI's Xponential 2022, Durscher says that an open source drone platform like Auterion's is all about giving manufacturers the opportunity to innovate, giving customers the widest range of choice, and ultimately improving the entire workflow of commercial drone use.

Wing, one of the first providers of drone delivery service in the United States, has partnered with three Texas-based companies, Blue Bell Creameries, easyvet and Texas Health Resources, to officially launch the first commercial drone delivery service in a major U.S. metropolitan area at Frisco Station. Starting Thursday, Frisco and Little Elm residents can order a drone delivery of ice cream from Blue Bell Creameries, prescription pet medications from easyvet and first aid kits from Texas Health Resources.

NASA has announced this week that the technology licensed to Vigilant Aerospace and used in the company's FlightHorizon detect-and-avoid and airspace management product has won NASA's Commercial Invention of the Year 2021 award.

The Future of Logistics are forging a partnership that will focus on educating the global logistics industry about the value of drone delivery systems. The parties have agreed to work together to further the mission of the DLE to establish regulations and drive further growth for the drone delivery industry. The DLE and Manifest will work together to create world class education and awareness of the crucial part drones can play in upgrading and automating the last leg of the supply chain journey. Manifest 2023, taking place Jan. 30 – Feb. 1st in Las Vegas, will once again bring together the most comprehensive ecosystem of innovation and transformation in Logistics technology and end-to-end Supply Chain by organizing mega events in Las Vegas on annual basis. While DLE is a global multidisciplinary "quadruple helix" network of Companies, Universities, the Public and Investors (CUPI) with the aim to stimulate innovations, collaborations, and standardization in the Drone logistic industry on an international level.

As momentum around Advanced Air Mobility ("AAM") continues to build, regulators have taken several recent steps in support of the development and commercialization of electric vertical take-off and landing ("eVTOL") aircraft. eVTOLs are an innovative and emerging AAM technology with potential to deliver sustainable passenger and cargo transportation in urban, inter-city, and rural use cases, using electric power to take off, hover, and land vertically. The regulatory regime for eVTOLs and AAM is rapidly taking shape, and stakeholder awareness and engagement will be critical on issues such as infrastructure, streamlining regulations across jurisdictions, and aircraft certification.

When the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced at March's Global Urban Advanced Air Summit (GUAAS) that their respective organizations were working together to support future eVTOL aircraft, Joby Aviation was particularly pleased

the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), applauded the publication of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) report. The report sets the stage for the FAA to begin its process to publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that will significantly advance the uncrewed systems industry, including drones and advanced air mobility (AAM), while also maintaining the highest levels of aviation safety for all airspace users.

Volocopter, the pioneer of urban air mobility, has raised USD 170 million in the initial signing of its Series E funding round led by South Korean investor WP Investment, at a pre-money valuation of USD 1.7 billion. Composed of funds by new and existing investors, the money raised will assist with the certification of Volocopter's electric passenger air taxi and is expected to help Volocopter achieve commercial launch in first cities worldwide.

In an announcement earlier this month, the FAA announced that they would be moving forward with drone integration and unmnaned traffic management systems. Beginning this spring, FAA tests UTM systems in the field.

In a move that I personally think is a huge mistake, the Indian Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) announced that it's effectively game over for DJI and others in India.

The Agility Prime program—launched in May 2020 as a U.S. Air Force effort within the AFWERX program—has accelerated electric air taxi technologies and supported commercial investment in electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Agility Prime has worked with numerous companies to award more than $100 million in contracts, with four company recipients going so far as to achieve military airworthiness.

Domino's Pizza Enterprises Limited (Domino's) and Flirtey Inc. (SkyDrop) have today announced they have signed an agreement for the next stage of commercial drone delivery trials in New Zealand

Teledyne FLIR's VUE TZ20-R is a game changer for commercial drones, for applications from search and rescue to solar inspection.  In a recent webinar, Teledyne FLIR's Kelly Brodbeck gives 4 reasons drone pilots need radiometric thermal zoom capabilities.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Wednesday that Michigan and Ontario are collaborating on an initiative involving unmanned aerial systems (UAS), more commonly known as drones.   

Don't miss Ernest Huffman on Dawn of Drones This Week! Ernest Huffman is the Aviation Planning and Education Program Manager for the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG): tune in below on Wednesday, December 15 at 11:00 am EST!

Sustainable aviation is at a cross-roads. Small electric planes are in the air and airports are changing. But with battery technology in its teenage years, short hops between regional airports are about the extent of electric aviation's capabilities, making little New Zealand the ideal proving ground as the industry changes. Kate Green reports.

In what's being hailed as a precedent in Canada, officials at Edmonton International Airport have initiated drone deliveries from the facility, the first step in what they hope will become regular, broadening activity.

AeroX, a nonprofit organization focused on promoting the safe and efficient commercialization of UAS technologies in Forsyth County, has been awarded a $5 million dollar grant from the North Carolina General Assembly for the design and development of an urban advanced air mobility system in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, North Carolina.

DroneUp, LLC, a leading global provider of drone technology and services, and Walmart announced today the first multi-site commercial drone delivery operations. The three locations, which will be located at Walmart stores in Northwest Arkansas, will operate from 8:00 a.m. ­– 8:00 p.m., seven days per week, to deliver items to eligible Walmart customers by air in as little as 30 minutes.

TulsaLabs, a next generation technology research laboratory, has established a division that will focus on aerospace projects of military and commercial customers.

AppSwarm, Corp. (OTC: SWRM), a software development company and aggregator of mobile applications, announced the formation of Tulsalabs aerospace division focused on commercial and military projects.
TulsaLabs announces the launch of its aviation division to develop and assist start-ups in the aerospace industry to set-up operations in Oklahoma.

VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) aircraft are rapidly growing from prototypes to commercial vehicles. But while most prioritize electric batteries, there's a suite of companies developing hydrogen-powered VTOLs, including the Skai from US company Alaka'i.

German urban air mobility (UAM) pioneer, Volocopter, has completed the first test flight with its 2X aircraft in Seoul, South Korea. It was the first-ever crewed public test flight of a fully electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) air taxi in South Korea. The Republic's Minister for Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (MoLIT) Noh Hyeong Ouk, together with senior officials from the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Korea and German Embassy, witnessed the historical test flight, which marks a milestone in Volocopter's plan of introducing air taxis globally. 

Arlington Capital Partners ("Arlington") today announced that its portfolio company, BlueHalo (the "Company"), a leading provider of advanced engineering solutions and technology to the national security community, has acquired Citadel Defense Company ("Citadel").

Wing, the drone delivery division of Google parent company Alphabet, said Wednesday that it's expanded operations to parts of the Dallas-Forth Worth area. This is a significant expansion into a more complex urban area, though operations so far are limited to carrying packages from a Walgreens parking lot to residents of Frisco and Little Elm on the northern edge of the metro area.

There's work to be done, but Oklahoma stands to reap great benefits from unmanned aerial vehicle and advanced air mobility technologies beginning to affect everything from transportation to public safety to business and commerce.
Potentials of UAV and AAM systems and how they'll fit into Oklahoma's future were topics of discussion this week between lawmakers and industry leaders who took part in a forum held at the Capitol.

Battery life is a limiting factor for commercial drones.  This technology company wants to dispatch wireless power for drones.
A company that uses its proprietary wireless-power technology to handle complex logistics issues in the retail and warehousing industry sectors hopes to adapt that technology to be able to power small drones, without the need for heavy on-board batteries.

LaunchPoint Electric Propulsion Solutions, Inc., a fast-growing aerospace and defense solutions company, has announced the commercialization of its next generation 1.5 kW electric generator and controller. Engineered to MIL-STD specification, the DHA050 enables increased onboard electrical power generation for advanced drones.

Paragon VTOL Aerospace, a lead innovator in vertical take-off and landing technology (VTOL), held a press conference today announcing new partnerships which will place Brownsville at the center of the development of sustainable vertical lift-off and landing technologies.  The partnerships are with Rolls Royce, S&C Electric, ARUP, Texas Southmost College (TSC), the City of Brownsville and Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation (GBIC).  The partnerships include one with Texas Southmost College to provide education and job training to help develop this new industry.

With its planned SPAC merger just a week away, eVTOL air taxi company Archer has announced a new deal with the US Air Force, a vertiport partnership with Reef, and a preliminary win in its court battle with Wisk over allegedly stolen designs.