by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian M Crosby
Aloft Technologies has announced a series of record flight and airspace safety milestones spanning its applications and UTM platform.
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The company recorded half a million LAANC authorizations in total, seeing record growth in June where total authorizations grew 58% year-over-year and commercial airspace authorizations grew 102% year-over-year. The B4UFLY app also saw record usage and adoption, surpassing 20 million airspace searches. Additionally, the Aloft UTM data network exceeded one million monthly airspace events in June with a quarter-over-quarter commercial revenue growth of 300%, the platform’s largest expansion to date.
Aloft’s B4UFLY app, following its relaunch in August of 2019 and the addition of a web-based version, has become the leading source of situational awareness for both UAS operators and recreational drone pilots. Recently added features such as Notify & Fly, which provides operators with the ability to anonymously share their flight intent and location to other pilots, are also experiencing growth. Notify & Fly experienced record usage during May and June, with usage tripling between March and June.
“We know that adoption by users is key to all successful compliance efforts. While we continue to build open and scalable systems, we can’t mistake walls for highways,” said Aloft CEO and Founder Jon Hegranes. “We have to make compliance, safety and security part of the benefits that come along with accessible and easy to use tools. We’re excited to continue growing along with the broader drone ecosystem.”
Aloft Geo, the company’s latest product, enables government and authoritative agencies to publish air and groundspace advisories to the Aloft UTM data network. This service exceeded 50 verified agencies in only its first month. Aloft Geo advances UTM situational awareness by bringing together authoritative data sets with Aloft’s airspace restrictions and flight activity data. This integration allows authoritative agencies to manage and publish data directly to the most comprehensive network of drone pilots and airspace stakeholders.
“Many pilots who fly motorized aircraft within Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS) have told MBNS staff they use the B4UFLY app for situational awareness,” said MBNMS Permit Coordinator and GIS Specialist Sophie De Beukelaer. “Therefore, MBNMS staff made it a priority to upload the boundaries of the NOAA regulated overflight zones as a *.kml file to Aloft Geo and provide metadata and links to inform pilots where flights under 1000 feet within MBNMS are prohibited by federal regulations. Aloft Geo’s interface is intuitive and updates are efficiently published to B4UFLY.”
Read more about Aloft:
- Aloft Geo Portal Brings FAA Drone Regulations and Local Rules Together for Operators
- Notify & Fly: Aloft Launches New Capability for B4UFly App
- Kittyhawk Changes Its Name but Not Its Mission: Introducing Aloft Technologies Inc.
- B4UFLY Web: Kittyhawk Announces Enhanced Desktop Functionality
Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.
For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.
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