Getting BVLOS off the ground: Safety concerns, regulatory hurdles

For the average drone enthusiast, BVLOS flight is unnecessary. For the growing drone delivery industry, it is vital. VLOS operation requires an on-the-ground observer to maintain visual contact with the drone with their naked eye. This limits how high and far the drone can be flown, as well as operations in urban areas where skyscrapers can block the view. [caption id="attachment_57289803" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Panelists at AUVSI Xponential 2025 discuss BVLOS regulations around the globe. (Photo/Cargo Facts)[/caption] Seven drone delivery companies in the United States have gained Part 135 licenses with added BVLOS operation approval from the FAA: Amazon ; Causey Aviation ; Dexa ; DroneUp ; UPS ; Wing ; and Zipline . But BVLOS growth remains limited by bureaucracy, infrastructure needs such as UAS traffic management systems (UTM) and public mistrust, drone experts agreed at AUVSI Xponential 2025 in Houston recently. Safety concerns, tech solutions The main barrier to widespread BVLOS certification is safety. Without nationwide UTM and extensive electronic conspicuity to prevent collisions, each drone company must demonstrate that it has sufficient technologies and safeguards to ensure safety. The more uncrewed air vehicles (UAV) in the air, the higher the risk of collision. There were more than 1 million drones registered in the U.S. as of April, according to the FAA. Drones accounted for about two-thirds of reported near midair collisions in 2024, according to the Associated Press. [caption id="attachment_57289386" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Panelists discuss 'detect and avoid' technology at AUVSI Xponential 2025 in Houston in May. (Photo/Cargo Facts)[/caption] EASA reports more than 1.6 million drones registered in Europe. UAS incidents in Europe in 2023 accounted for one fatality and one serious injury, according to the agency. Detect and avoid (DAA) technologies onboard UAVs can detect other UAVs, allowing operators to avoid collisions. “ Detect and avoid was supposed to be this enabler, this game changer for the UAS industry, unlocking beyond visual line of sight,” Erin Roesler, deputy executive director at Northern Plains UAS Test Site, said during a panel discussion at the conference. The test site, in Grand Forks, N.D., partners with the FAA to conduct flight testing, consultation and research. One DAA tool, the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), aircraft periodically broadcast their positions and other relevant data to air traffic control receivers. ADS-B is a form of electronic conspicuity. DAA technologies exist but their effectiveness is limited by a lack of cohesion, drone experts said. Putting all drones on one system would make airspace much safer, but there is no infrastructure for a single system and there remains the issue of human noncompliance. International perspectives The United States is not the only country trying to enable BVLOS while ensuring safety. When asked to rate their countries on a scale of one to ten regarding BVLOS regulations and implementation, panelists’ answers varied. Andre Arruda, co-founder of Brazilian aerospace company AL Drones, ranked Brazil seven out of ten — the highest ranking on the panel. Case-by-case approvals for BVLOS slow the process and drone industry growth in Brazil, Arruda said. [caption id="attachment_57289805" align="aligncenter" width="1860"] Kite Aero's Zac Kennedy gives Australia a six out of ten for BVLOS regulations and implementation. (Photo/Cargo Facts)[/caption] Zac Kennedy, chief delivery officer at Australia’s Kite Aero, gave Australia a six out of ten, saying that Canada and New Zealand are leading the pack in terms of BVLOS regulation and infrastructure. “Australia started off really strong in drone regulations. It started off early ... and it kind of just stagnated.” — Zac Kennedy, chief delivery officer at Kite Aero Without giving a specific number, Jessica Brightman, implementation branch manager in the Safety & Integration Division of FAA’s UAS Integration Office, said the U.S. scored below six. “To get to a full ten, we really have to have a very robust regulatory framework for BVLOS, for UTM,” she said. “We have to have a very mature set of standards to support those regulations and support those operations. But since we don't have electronic conspicuity, we're still working on the regulatory framework for BVLOS, the regulatory framework for UTM.” The FAA is working on regulations and Brightman said she believes that after they’re implemented, the U.S. rating will go as high as eight. She declined to give details on the regulations beyond saying they are coming soon. Lukas Obrist, chief technology officer at SwissDrones, gave Europe an eight for vision but a four for implementation. Unlike nations, Europe has a multinational airspace jurisdiction, which requires additional effort, he said. EASA oversees drone regulations for twenty-seven EU nations and four non-EU nations, including SwissDrones’ home, Switzerland. Current regulations The FAA is in the first year of Beyond Phase 2, a four-year initiative to regulate UAS, collect data and streamline the approval processes for drone integration, according to the agency. The FAA’s key focus areas for expanding drone delivery are safety, infrastructure and scalability, Pamela Gomez, director of UAS safety and integration at the FAA, said at the conference. [caption id="attachment_57289806" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Amazon's Part 135 license from the FAA allows it to fly BVLOS. (Courtesy/Amazon)[/caption] “We expect that a lot of Beyond Phase 2 with our existing partners will be focused on BVLOS implementation over the next five years,” she said. “What Beyond did for us is give us the data to build out the safety cases that we needed to [bring] us where we are today with Article 35 BVLOS exemptions.” U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order on June 6 titled “Unleashing American drone dominance” that requires Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy and acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau to propose a rule enabling routine BVLOS operations for UAS in the commercial and public safety sectors. Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) published proposals for new risk-based drone rules this month, splitting drone operations into three categories. BVLOS would only be allowed for the highest-risk “certified” category. This would require the drone, its operator and its pilot to be certified and would require continuous oversight by ANAC. ANAC identified cargo transport in urban areas as the key use case for the certified category. Overcoming regulatory challenges Drone experts have repeatedly cited redundant bureaucracy as a key hindrance to BVLOS operations. “The current regulations and regulatory practices [in Australia] were designed for the nascent stages of this industry,” Kite Aero’s Kennedy said. “We need approval processes that keep pace with commercial urgency by maintaining or even raising the safety bar.” The Civil Aviation Safety Authority of Australia requires BVLOS applications to be submitted on a case-by-case basis. This means that, even if an operator has completed a successful BVLOS operation, to carry out the exact same operation fifty miles away with the same drone and same crew, the operator must submit a new application, Kennedy said. “You've got some templates in place, but the process demands that, at best, you amend the current approval, which is geographically specific, or at worst, you resubmit entirely for approval,” he said. “In either case, [there are] waiting times, which, in Australia at the moment, is sitting around eight to twelve months. “We need a repeatable framework ... instead of starting from scratch every single time.” — Zac Kennedy, chief delivery officer at Kite Aero SwissDrones’ Obrist said EASA should move toward third-party verification of designs, as this takes away a large part of the burden on risk assessment, thereby hastening the process. And the FAA’s Brightman touted collaboration among regulatory groups and the drone industry. Collaboration across jurisdictions is something that “we must be very intentional about,” she said.

Getting BVLOS off the ground: Safety concerns, regulatory hurdles

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