Proposed FAA Regulations Could Nudge Open U.S. Skies for Drones

1 May 2015— The global unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) industry welcomed a long-awaited proposal from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to enable commercial users of drones to apply for permission to fly in certain airspaces. The proposed rule would effectively end the ban on commercial drone flights, allowing low-altitude flights of small drones by pilots who have a private pilot certificate.

A drone market research report from Business Insider Intelligence forecasts that the market for commercial/civilian drones will take off at a compound annual growth rate of 19 percent between 2015 and 2020. The report predicts that a handful of industries will be key to that growth: agriculture, mining, oil and gas, utilities, construction, real estate, and the news media.

Drones and photonics go hand in hand since the vehicles usually involve imaging technology. The new FAA proposal does not at this time allow robotic e-commerce or package delivery, although it would allow companies like Amazon, Google, and Facebook to commence testing of industry-changing concepts.