Here's what to expect from the FAA's upcoming drone regulations

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The general consensus is the FAA will release a new set of drone regulations next month, but what will those regulations entail?

The FAA's regulatory framework has prevented the widespread commercial adoption of drones in the U.S. because they limit most commercial drone use to specific applications such as land surveying. But the new regulations could drastically change the situation if they open the doors for drones to other applications, such as package delivery.

The FAA has numerous problems to address with these new regulations. For starters, those who have applied for a commercial drone permit have had a frustrating experience thus far thanks to an absurd amount of paperwork and the necessity of hiring law firms that can charge thousands of dollars for their services. That's all according to Jonathan Evans, CEO of Skyward, a company that provides software for enterprise drones.

Furthermore, operators must have a permit to fly an airplane before they can even apply for a drone permit, which creates a major roadblock. Evans said he expects the FAA to reduce these requirements and shorten the current training course for a permit in order to accelerate the application process.

Canada has demonstrated a bit more risk when regulating drone applications, and the FAA could follow suit, according to Dan Ridlon, a counsel at Perkins Cole, a law firm that specializes in aviation law and regulation. Currently, all commercial drone regulations in the U.S. apply equally to all applications, but the FAA has typically offered exemptions to the safest applications.

But Ridlon anticipates that the FAA will streamline its approval process for safer applications such as aerial photography and land surveying, and create tougher requirements for riskier applications such as package delivery.

One of the most contentious points regarding current FAA drone regulations is the line of sight rule, which mandates that drones must fly in view of their pilots at all times. But the FAA may reconsider this with its new regulations, a necessary move for companies such as Amazon, which would need long distance drone delivery to make Prime Air get off the ground.

Congress recently reauthorized the FAA to regulate drones but tweaked its authorization in a way that forced it to research how to eliminate the line of sight rule. Ridlon proposed, therefore, that it's just a matter of time before this rule disappears.

Drones turned the corner in 2015 to become a popular consumer device, while a framework for regulation that legitimizes drones in the US began to take shape. Technological and regulatory barriers still exist to further drone adoption.

Drone manufacturers and software providers are quickly developing technologies like geo-fencing and collision avoidance that will make flying drones safer. The accelerating pace of drone adoption is also pushing governments to create new regulations that balance safety and innovation.

Safer technology and better regulation will open up new applications for drones in the commercial sector, including drone delivery programs like Amazon’s Prime Air and Google’s Project Wing initiatives.

Jonathan Camhi, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed drones report that forecasts sales revenues for consumer, enterprise, and military drones. It also projects the growth of drone shipments for consumers and enterprises.

The report details several of world’s major drone suppliers and examines trends in drone adoption among several leading industries. Finally, it examines the regulatory landscape in several markets and explains how technologies like obstacle avoidance and drone-to-drone communications will impact drone adoption.

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Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

• We project revenues from drones sales to top $12 billion in 2021, up from just over $8 billion last year.
• Shipments of consumer drones will more than quadruple over the next five years, fueled by increasing price competition and new technologies that make flying drones easier for beginners.
• Growth in the enterprise sector will outpace the consumer sector in both shipments and revenues as regulations open up new use cases in the US and EU, the two biggest potential markets for enterprise drones.
• Technologies like geo-fencing and collision avoidance will make flying drones safer and make regulators feel more comfortable with larger numbers of drones taking to the skies.
• Right now FAA regulations have limited commercial drones to a select few industries and applications like aerial surveying in the agriculture, mining, and oil and gas sectors.
• The military sector will continue to lead all other sectors in drone spending during our forecast period thanks to the high cost of military drones and the growing number of countries seeking to acquire them.

In full, the report:

• Compares drone adoption across the consumer, enterprise, and government sectors.
• Breaks down drone regulations across several key markets and explains how they’ve impacted adoption.
• Discusses popular use cases for drones in the enterprise sector, as well as nascent use case that are on the rise.
• Analyzes how different drone manufacturers are trying to differentiate their offerings with better hardware and software components.
• Explains how drone manufacturers are quickly enabling autonomous flight in their products that will be a major boon for drone adoption.

To get your copy of this invaluable guide, choose one of these options:

1. Subscribe to an ALL-ACCESS Membership with BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report AND over 100 other expertly researched deep-dive reports, subscriptions to all of our daily newsletters, and much more. >> START A MEMBERSHIP
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The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of the world of drones.