Long Range Cargo Drones: Volansi Joins 3 FAA BEYOND Projects

Volansi, a leading provider of long range cargo drones, has partnered with three of the nine participants in the FAA’s BEYOND program.  “Volansi is working directly with the ​North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), the North Dakota Department of Transportation and the University of Alaska Fairbanks for this effort,” says a press release.

The announcement demonstrates the place that the CA-based Volansi​ has taken in drone delivery.  Founded in 2015, the company specializes is “middle-mile drone delivery” – unmanned delivery systems designed to carry cargo over long ranges, flights that travel beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS).  If small drone delivery is designed for retail, the Volansi solution is designed for commercial or military use. Fueled by a $50 million Series B investment in September of 2020, Volansi is on a rapid growth trajectory.

Volansi has announced a string of successful partnerships in the last year, with their long range cargo drones taking a headline position in projects around the world.  Last summer, Volansi announced an agreement with North Carolina’s Department of Transportation (NCDOT) to deliver supplies: the company is working with pharmaceutical giant Merck to deliver temperature controlled medical supplies.   Volansi supports North Dakota’s statewide drone network, Vantis, testing flights beyond visual line of sight.  Volansi’s military subsidiary has joined the US Air Force Skyborg project.

The BEYOND program is the next phase of the UAS Integration Pilot Program. BEYOND projects are gathering data to inform regulators on three specific focus areas, defined by the FAA:

• Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations that are repeatable, scalable and economically viable with specific emphasis on infrastructure inspection, public operations and small package delivery.
• Leveraging industry operations to better analyze and quantify the societal and economic benefits of UAS operations.
• Focusing on community engagement efforts to collect, analyze and address community concerns.

With their long range cargo capabilities, Volansi fits right into the industrial focus that the FAA defines.

“We are really excited to participate in BEYOND and help get us one step closer to being free from the limitations of our current ground infrastructure,” said ​Hannan Parvizian, Volansi CEO and co-founder. “Each one of our partners are unique and undertaking projects essential in performing the research and testing required to safely integrate drones into the national airspace.”

“Our goal is to utilize our VOLY C10 drone to ​provide the required data and lessons learned through various exercises to help regulatory teams and policymakers within the FAA and The Department of Transportation inform regulations, policy, and guidance to streamline the approval processes for UAS integration,” said Parvizian​. “These projects will help to unlock the skies for drone delivery.”