Haye Kesteloo

Haye Kesteloo is the Editor in Chief and Founder of DroneXL.co, where he covers all drone-related news, DJI rumors and writes drone reviews, and of EVXL.co, for all electric vehicle news. Haye can be reached at haye @ dronexl.co or @hayekesteloo.

6,255

Articles

271

Beats covered

2020

Writing since

Aug 23

Latest story

A DJI Matrice 4T enterprise drone with its thermal and zoom camera payload, the class of thermal-equipped aircraft that falls into the new 100 percent tariff tier.

US Government

Trump Puts 100% Tariffs On Thermal Drones As His Sons' Drone Stocks Rally

Trump's Section 232 drone tariffs start September 3. Thermal aircraft pay 100%, everything else 25%, and two Trump-linked drone stocks jumped on the news.

Haye KestelooAug 15

DJI

DJI Mavic 4 Pro Creator Combo Falls to $3,500 on Amazon, $100 Above Its June Low

The DJI Mavic 4 Pro Creator Combo is selling for $3,500 on Amazon, a $499 cut from list. Deal sites call it a record low. DroneXL's archive says the same combo hit $3,400 in June. And the FCC's pending LiDAR proposal reaches this drone, which matters more than the last $100.

Haye KestelooAug 13

Insta360

Insta360 X6 Launches At $699.99 A Day Before DJI's Osmo 360 II, And Only One Can Reach US Shelves

Insta360's X6 arrives August 12, 2026 with dual 1/1.1-inch Sony sensors, 8K50fps and in-camera Dolby Vision at $699.99. DJI answers 23 hours later with the Osmo 360 II, on every storefront except the American one.

Haye KestelooAug 12

Vic Moss of the Drone Service Providers Alliance speaking into a studio microphone with a red CENSORED stamp across his mouth, seated in front of a pegboard workbench and framed aerial photos.

FAA

Vic Moss Drops The Diplomat Act On The FCC Drone Ban Ahead Of The September 2 Deadline

DSPA co-founder Vic Moss abandoned six years of measured advocacy to attack FCC Docket 26-189. Under the anger is a filing deadline three weeks out.

Haye KestelooAug 11

Wildfire

BRINC Ships Free Wildfire Layers In Days, On NOAA Data That Comes With Warnings

BRINC added live wildfire detections and smoke coverage to its LiveOps software at no additional cost, shipping the feature days after an engineer prototyped it. The layers run on NOAA satellite data that the agency itself labels strategic guidance rather than tactical fire intelligence.

Haye KestelooAug 10

White fixed-wing AVSS drone banking above a turquoise glacial lake in a snow-capped mountain valley

Police

ThinkOn And AVSS Put Canadian Drone Data On Canadian Soil, Off The Hyperscalers

ThinkOn and AVSS are hosting TAK on Canadian sovereign cloud, with live drone video piped in. The data residency case is real. The 'until now' is not.

Haye KestelooAug 10

FPV freestyle drone carrying a GoPro action camera flying in front of the mist and rushing water of Niagara Falls

FPV

GoPro Flies 8K Over Niagara Falls and Leaves the Permit Out of the Description

GoPro's new Niagara Falls reel was shot on a MISSION 1 PRO strapped to FPV Evan's drone. The airspace is restricted on both sides of the border.

Haye KestelooAug 10

AVIDrone Katana unmanned helicopter drone hovering against a clear blue sky, showing its main rotor, long tail boom, tail rotor and four-legged landing gear

Technology

DARPA Pays Half As A Conventional Helicopter Wins The Lift Challenge At 3.84:1

Avidrone Inc. won the DARPA Lift Challenge at a 3.84:1 payload-to-weight ratio with the Katana, a conventional single-rotor helicopter, and because nobody reached 4:1, the half-prize clause DroneXL reported last week cut every podium payout in two. The result says as much about energy density and American drone policy as it does about lift.

Haye KestelooAug 10

Haye Kesteloo

The drone industry moves fast. Stay ahead of it.