FAA Announces New LAANC System for Hobby Drones, Changing Dynamics of the Global Drone Market, UPS Enters the Drone Delivery Market, Parrot Exits the Toy Drone Market

FAA Announces new LAANC System for Recreational Pilots

Our first and biggest drone news story this week is about FAA’s new LAANC system for recreational pilots. Effective July 23rd, FAA has expanded its LAANC system to provide hobby drones the option to fly in controlled airspace. While this is a significant development, several concerns need to be addressed to ensure the success of this new system.

The biggest concern is the lack of proper drone education. Are regulatory authorities equipped to impart a thorough, well-rounded knowledge to drone pilots? Paul and Haye discuss why this remains a considerable challenge.

UPS enters the Drone Delivery Market with Flight Forward

Our next story is about drone delivery. After Google, UPS has entered the market by announcing its drone delivery initiative, Flight Forward. Stringent regulations have long prevented drone deliveries from taking off. So, how did UPS manage to get FAA approval for drone deliveries? And, will drone deliveries provide some much-needed traction to a lukewarm eCommerce market?

Global Drone Market Analysis

Listeners are in for a treat in the next segment of our show where we discuss the changing dynamics of the global drone market. The global drone market, currently pegged at $4.9 million, is set to triple to $14 billion by 2029. But, with the consumer drone market witnessing a slow-down, where will this growth come from? As more and more industries discover the power of drone technology, Paul and Haye reveal why the enterprise market will drive a large percentage of this projected growth.

This serves as an excellent segue to our next story. Cape, a drone software maker for law enforcement drones, has ditched DJI for another drone manufacturer, Skydio. Regular ADU listeners might recall the many data security issues that DJI has had to deal with in recent times. With all these looming security issues, will we see an American drone manufacturer like Skydio capture the law enforcement drone market?

Our last story for the day is about the French drone manufacturer, Parrot. Parrot has completely exited the toy drone market to focus solely on the commercial and enterprise segment. While more competition is certainly great news for the end-user, will this further compound DJI’s problem and threaten the market dominance they have enjoyed so far?

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