BVLOS

News, deep dives, and analysis — every BVLOS story, newest first.

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Nov 11

Last updated

BVLOS — beyond visual line of sight — is the single capability the whole industry is waiting on, because nothing scales while a human must see the aircraft. Delivery, docked security patrols, inspection, drone-as-first-responder: all of it is BVLOS, and all of it currently runs on exceptions.

The rule that would change that is Part 108, and its story is a clock. Executive Order 14307 gave the FAA 240 days; the deadline passed February 1, 2026; the text has sat in White House review since July 10. DOT says the delay is deliberate — better slow than obsolete — while operators say the uncertainty freezes investment.

Meanwhile the exceptions have become an economy. The FAA cleared 1,000+ agencies for DFR flights in ten months and cleared drone delivery’s environmental path nationwide over sixteen state attorneys general. The ambition riding on routine BVLOS is not small: our drone delivery guide covers a market where Uber and Zipline talk about a million deliveries a day.

We track the rulemaking, the waivers and the operations in one place — they are one story with three fronts. The FAA desk carries the wider regulatory picture. Every BVLOS article lands in the feed below.

Key facts

What BVLOS is: Beyond Visual Line of Sight — flying past where the pilot can see, the capability every serious drone operation needs
The rule everyone waits for: Part 108, which would make BVLOS routine instead of waiver-by-waiver; in White House review since July 10, 2026, past its executive-order deadline
Who flies it today: 1,000+ public-safety agencies under expedited waivers, and delivery operators under exemptions — Uber and Zipline are targeting a million deliveries a day
The stated reason for delay: DOT says it is deliberate — avoiding writing today's technology into a decade-long rule

Start here

DOT Says the BVLOS Delay Is Deliberate, and Zipline Warns the Uncertainty Freezes Drone Investment — August 1, 2026
FAA Clears Drone Delivery's Environmental Path Nationwide, Overriding 17 State Attorneys General — July 31, 2026
FAA Cleared Over 1,000 Agencies for Drone First Responder Flights in 10 Months, and the Full List Is Now Public — August 7, 2026

Last updated November 11, 2026 — the feed below updates with every new story.

An Amazon Prime Air MK30 delivery drone with blue wings and a white fuselage resting nose-up on a painted launch pad, with green security fencing and floodlights behind it.

BVLOS · Drone Delivery

Amazon's UK Drones Go From 600 to 8,000 Homes. The Circle Didn't Grow

The UK CAA granted Amazon Prime Air SAIL 4 approval in Darlington, lifting eligible homes from 600 to 8,000 inside the same 7.5-mile radius.

Haye KestelooNov 115 min read

A black hexacopter with an orange top cover flies against a blue sky during NASA UAS traffic management research flights

FAA

FAA Touts 2.2 Million UTM Drone Flights at AUVSI. Part 108 Still Waits

At AUVSI the FAA cited 2.2 million deconflicted UTM flights and a type certification rethink, but gave no date for the Part 108 BVLOS rule.

Haye KestelooNov 10

Skyways V2 hybrid VTOL drone flying over the sea toward a low sun, with clouds behind it

FAA

FAA Clears First Coast-to-Gulf BVLOS Flight for Skyways and Shell

The FAA cleared Skyways to fly its V2 drone from Shell's Gibson, Louisiana facility to a Gulf platform under a Section 927 waiver, not Part 108.

Haye KestelooNov 10

Two drone pilots in white hard hats and yellow safety vests on a rooftop solar array, one holding a tablet and the other a drone controller, with snow-capped mountains behind them

Drone Software

AirData Syncs Pilot Institute Training Records As Part 108 Nears

AirData now imports Pilot Institute certificates and skills on every plan, free included, as the FAA's Part 108 proposal asks for training records.

Haye KestelooNov 9

Indiana

Indiana FAA Drone Test Site Plans Kinetic Tests Under A Civil Program

Purdue's Windracers ULTRA opened Indiana's FAA test site with a flood-relief drop. Its director says kinetic and counter-UAS tests set it apart.

Haye KestelooNov 8

Rendering of two Starlink satellites above the night side of Earth, each projecting cones of light onto rings of coverage over city lights

FCC Filing

FCC 800 MHz Drone Order Adds a SpaceX Footnote the Draft Lacked

FCC's adopted 800 MHz drone order adds a footnote the draft lacked: SpaceX's bid for the band next door, with drones and Starlink phones told to coexist.

Haye KestelooNov 1

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr in a dark suit speaks into a microphone from an armchair on a stage lined with American flags while a moderator reads her notes

POLICY

AUVSI Gives the FCC as Many Speakers as the FAA at Its DC Drone Forum

AUVSI's Nov. 9-10 symposium lists four FCC officials, enforcement chief Hunter Deeley among them, and four from the FAA, with Part 108 still unpublished.

Haye KestelooOct 29

Close-up of a gray Skydio X10 drone in flight, its square camera module with three lenses facing the viewer, trees and rocks blurred behind it

FCC Filing

FCC Opens 800 MHz to Drones, but BVLOS Still Waits on FAA Part 108

The FCC voted 3-0 to end a 1991 airborne ban and open 50 MHz of 800 MHz cellular spectrum to drones. The FAA's Part 108 BVLOS rule is due December 7.

Haye KestelooOct 29

Frequently asked questions

What does BVLOS mean?

Beyond Visual Line of Sight: operating a drone past the point where the pilot can see it. Almost everything the industry wants to scale — delivery, docked patrols, infrastructure inspection, drone-as-first-responder — is a BVLOS operation, which is why one acronym carries so much weight.

Is BVLOS legal in the US?

With authorization, yes — through waivers and exemptions granted case by case. More than 1,000 public-safety agencies were cleared in ten months, and delivery operators fly under their own exemptions. What does not exist yet is routine BVLOS by rule.

What is Part 108 and when does it arrive?

The FAA rule that would turn BVLOS from a waiver into a routine authorization. Executive Order 14307's deadline expired February 1, 2026; the text reached White House review July 10. DOT calls the delay deliberate — writing today's tech into a decade-long rule is the failure mode they say they are avoiding. Operators say the uncertainty freezes investment. Both are right.

BVLOS

Key facts

Start here

Frequently asked questions

The drone industry moves fast. Stay ahead of it.