Sphere Drones has announced its flight operations team has been granted a Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) area approval for its site near Wagga Wagga by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
The BVLOS approval perfectly positions Sphere Drones to help accelerate commercial drone adoption by businesses across Australia.
The commercial adoption is due to skyrocket to 60 million flights each year by 2043.
This regulatory milestone marks Sphere Drones’ first BVLOS Area Approval which allows the business to demonstrate BVLOS drone operations while testing and developing its innovative HubX platform.
CEO of Sphere Drones Paris Cockinos said he is proud of the effort and dedication the business’s team has shown.
“We’re proud of the dedication and effort the team has invested in regulatory and licensing work over the past few years, as well as their success in developing HubX to a stage where it met the requirements to gain approval. It’s truly a testament to our team’s focus and hard work,” said Cockinos.
One of the most significant benefits of this approval is the ability for teams to conduct operations across the BVLOS area without the need for spotters or trained observers on-site.
This is all made possible by HubX, being an off grid enabled, self-sustaining and rugged mobile drone platform.
In addition, it provides businesses from a broad range of industries with a highly supported pathway to adopt BVLOS operations quickly.
BVLOS operations will act as a conduit for the broader use of commercial drones in surveying operations to provide businesses with substantial efficiency gains and cost savings.
Chief Remote Pilot of Sphere Drones Elliot Cummins said it was fantastic news for the business, its clients and the wider industry.
“It’s a big step to obtain your first BVLOS approval which includes extensive processes and procedures to prove safety and sufficiency in your technology solutions and redundancies,” said Cummins.
The BVLOS approval additionally paves the way for the development and deployment of HubX for an extended duration.
This establishes a permanent demonstration site to complete comprehensive testing which will showcase the full capabilities of Sphere Drones’ technology.
This milestone is not just a win for Sphere Drones, it represents a significant advancement for Drone-in-a-Box solutions across Australia as a whole.
Sphere Drones continues to explore the full potential of drone technology while setting new standards for safety, efficiency, and innovation.
It’s important to note that the current BVLOS approval does not extend to Remote Operations Centre BVLOS operations.