News

Federal grant will support conversion of an existing EV battery line to produce high-energy-density cells for Group 1, 2 and 3 drones Amprius Technologies (NYSE: AMPX) has received a federal grant of up to $75 million to expand U.S. production of batteries for unmanned aerial systems. The award will support the conversion of an existing… Read more: U.S. Awards Amprius Up to $75 Million to Expand Domestic Drone Battery Production

Pilot with Wing and DoorDash brings tools, paint products and household essentials to customers near Charlotte in as fast as 20 minutes Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW) has launched its first drone delivery service, offering customers a new way to receive small home improvement supplies without making a trip to the store. The retailer is piloting the service… Read more: Lowe’s Launches Drone Delivery for Home Improvement Supplies

Colorado proposal focuses on launch hubs as FAA authority limits local control of aircraft operation The City of Northglenn, Colorado, is considering new rules for commercial drone delivery hubs as the industry expands across the United States. The proposal is notable for what it would regulate, and what city officials acknowledge they cannot regulate. Northglenn… Read more: What Can Cities Regulate About Drone Delivery?

BETA Technologies, Metro Aviation and Washington County EMS test how electric aviation could support disaster response and medical operations in Texas BETA Technologies and Metro Aviation have completed an electric aircraft demonstration with Washington County Emergency Medical Services in Brenham, Texas. The flight explored how electric aviation could support emergency response in rural areas. The… Read more: Testing Electric Aviation for Rural EMS

SkyfireAI, DBOX, Drone Nerds and XTI Aerospace combine infrastructure, software and integration expertise for U.S. deployment SkyfireAI and Lithuania-based DBOX have formed a new collaboration aimed at advancing integrated autonomous drone operations in the United States. The companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) during the Lithuania–U.S. Business Forum in Miami. The signing took place… Read more: Beyond the Drone and Dock: Building a System for Autonomous Operations

UK company helps operators detect, track and classify airborne threats; US manufacturing is planned for 2026 OpenWorks Engineering has opened a US regional headquarters in Ashburn, Virginia. The UK-based company also plans to open a manufacturing facility in Detroit, Michigan, before the end of 2026. The expansion gives OpenWorks a larger presence in a market… Read more: Counter-Drone Optics Maker Opens US Headquarters, Plans Detroit Factory

New features bring vehicle damage measurements, collision review and estimated headcounts into the company’s mapping platform. SkyeBrowse has introduced tools for reviewing vehicle crashes and estimating crowd size from drone images. The update adds Impact, a multi-vehicle collision review tool, and brings Crowd Counter to the SkyeBrowse Flight App on the DJI RC Pro. It… Read more: SkyeBrowse Adds Crash Analysis Tools and Drone-Based Crowd Counts

Massachusetts company Skyline Nav AI uses cameras and sensors to guide aircraft when GPS signals are blocked or disrupted By DRONELIFE Features Editor Jim Magill Since it first began to be widely adopted for commercial use in the 1980s, GPS technology has become ubiquitous, helping to facilitate the transportation of everything from passenger cars, to… Read more: Helping Drones Navigate without GPS

Commercial drones have made their name by observing the world below. Now a new class of missions is moving the aircraft up into the atmosphere itself. The Utah Division of Water Resources is exploring drone-based cloud seeding to replace the crewed aircraft it tested from 2022 to 2025. That puts unmanned aircraft at the meeting… Read more: Guest Post: Why Drones May Change How We Operate in the Atmosphere

The Australian-British team met the competition’s 10-minute detection gate during Finals Testing near Nenana, Alaska, linking fixed cameras, AI and drone swarms into a single detect, verify and act chain. Fire Foresight, a Tasmanian wildfire intelligence company, received a $500,000 award in the Autonomous Wildfire Response track of the XPRIZE Wildfire competition as part of… Read more: Fire Foresight Wins $500,000 XPRIZE Wildfire Award

The Fremont cell maker makes its European debut in London with an NDAA-compliant tabless 21700 cell rated for 100A continuous discharge and already shipping to drone manufacturers. Rincell, a U.S. battery cell manufacturer headquartered in Fremont, California, will unveil the RC50T at DroneX, held September 29-30, 2026 at ExCeL London. The show marks the company’s… Read more: Rincell Debuts New Drone Battery Cell at DroneX

The agreement could expand U.S. testing and production of Ukrainian technology as other countries build similar partnerships. Ukraine is ready to sign a drone defense agreement with the United States, according to CBS News. Sources told CBS the proposed deal would expand testing and production of Ukrainian defense technology in the U.S. The agreement has… Read more: Proposed U.S.–Ukraine Drone Deal Reflects Ukraine’s Growing Defense Industry Role

Vulcan Elements already makes rare earth magnets in North Carolina and is building a larger plant. Public figures do not yet show when supply could match the Army’s production goal. The U.S. Army has selected Vulcan Elements to supply rare earth magnets for its SkyFoundry drone initiative, Axios reported Wednesday. The magnets will support production… Read more: Army Drone Magnet Deal Raises a Bigger Question: When Can the Supply Chain Be Fully Domestic?

House committee advances a proposal to put safety information in front of operators when they set up a new drone. More than 700 unauthorized drones were seized in restricted airspace during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, according to the FAA. The agency had established nearly 250 temporary flight restrictions and warned operators to leave their… Read more: Bill Would Require Drone Operators to Acknowledge Safety Rules Before Their First Flight

The company’s Texas facility has delivered nine eBee VISION kits to Fort Irwin and begun shipping MicaSense sensors to commercial customers. EagleNXT says its facility in Allen, Texas, has delivered nine eBee VISION drone kits to the U.S. Army’s National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California. The delivery fulfills an order the company announced in… Read more: EagleNXT Ships U.S.-Built Drones to Army Training Center

A Windracers ULTRA operated by the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration carried chilled human blood samples on an 8-hour, 47-minute round trip from Nenana, testing whether long-range drones can move biological samples without degrading them. Alaska’s drone research program completed a 1,000-kilometer (621-mile) test flight carrying human blood samples for the International Testing… Read more: Alaska Drone Program Flies Blood Samples 1,000 Kilometers for Olympic Anti-Doping Agency

The Mountain View company’s common stock qualified for the OTCQB Venture Market, giving public investors direct exposure to a drone delivery operator that holds standard FAA type certification. Matternet common stock began trading on the OTCQB Venture Market on September 21, 2026 under the ticker symbol MTTN. The Mountain View, California company describes itself as… Read more: Matternet Drone Delivery Begins Trading on OTCQB

ABZ Innovation opened a new factory in just 90 days. Its plans now extend beyond Europe as U.S. policy reshapes the market for agricultural and industrial drones. When ABZ Innovation began planning a larger drone factory in Hungary, the company was responding to a commercial problem. Demand was growing, the United States had become its… Read more: One of Europe’s Largest Civilian Drone Factories Just Opened in Hungary. Here’s Why it Matters to the Rest of the World.

Amicus brief raises First Amendment questions about drone journalism as legal challenge continues Several civil liberties and photography organizations have filed a brief in a federal case challenging an FAA drone flight restriction that the agency later withdrew. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of the District of Columbia, National Press Photographers… Read more: Groups Ask Appeals Court to Review Rescinded FAA Drone Restriction

By DRONELIFE Features Editor Jim Magill Unauthorized drones flying in restricted airspace continue to cause interference with aerial firefighting operations at the scenes of wildfires across the country. In a recent example of this disturbing trend, unauthorized drone flights prompted aircraft engaged in firefighting at the scene of the Timber Fire in the Big Sur… Read more: Unauthorized Drones Divert Firefighting Aircraft at California’s Timber Fire