The FAA has started testing out commercial drones in Nevada

The FAA is ready to test drones in Nevada, the agency has said. This marks the third operational drone-testing location that the FAA has kicked live. The Insitu ScanEagle drone will be used in this case. The testing at the Nevada site is important to the future of drones in that it will examine how the aircraft will interact with air control. The FAA notes in its post announcing the news that research in Nevada will also investigate how “these aircraft will integrate with NextGen, the modernization of the national airspace system.” The FAA has selected six sites for drone testing in total. The first was brought online in April this year. Drone technology is proliferating. Given the increasing technical ability of the flying devices, how to weave them into the skies so that they don’t abrogate privacy or cause in-air collisions is a large task. The clamor for commercial use of drones is only growing. Amazon made headlines when it discussed using drones for package delivery.

Amazon teased one of the most amazing concepts we’ve seen in years recently when it showed off its “Amazon Prime Air” drones. The reveal has mainly been viewed as a marketing spectacle since Amazon can’t legally do that right now, but the Federal Aviation Administration is going to start working on laws that may soon make Prime Air a reality. The FAA announced Monday that it will begin testing unmanned aircraft systems (UAS, commonly referred to as drones) in Nevada in an effort to work toward integrating them with U.S. airspace. “Nevada has been on the leading edge of aerospace flight testing for almost 70 years,” Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said Monday. “Today, the state continues that tradition by contributing to the safe and efficient integration of unmanned aircraft into the U.S. aviation system.” Testing will take place in Mercury, Nevada at the private Desert Rock Airport, and the FAA will work with one drone, the ScanEagle from Insitu, the FAA said. The drone will fly no higher than 3,000 feet in the air during the tests. “Initial flights will verify that a UAS can operate safely at the airport,” the FAA explained. There’s a lot of research that needs to be done, including setting rules for unmanned aircraft, setting standards for training pilots who will operate drones in U.S. airspace, safety research and more, but this is a solid first step in the right direction.