The United States drone industry just received a long-awaited green light. On June 6, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed a sweeping Executive Order aimed at “Unleashing American Drone Dominance.”

In a nutshell, the Executive Order on drones mandates the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to finalize rules enabling Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations for commercial and public safety use. You can read the full Executive Order text here, but — in short — it does a few more specific things beyond just enabling BVLOS drone flights. Those include (and these are just a few):

• Establishing an electric “Vertical Takeoff and Landing” integration pilot program, which would have to include at least five pilot projects to test applications like cargo transport or medical response.
• Requiring the FAA to use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to streamline and expedite UAS waiver reviews.
• Directing the FAA to share an updated roadmap around UAS integration.

This moment is a tectonic shift for the drone industry. For drone operators, manufacturers, and investors, BVLOS operations open the floodgates to use cases once restricted to theory or tightly controlled test programs.

For example, drone delivery has been largely contained to test projects in Texas (aka the Drone Star State), such as Wing’s limited project delivering from select Walmart stores. Sure, even Wing this week announced a massive expansion to other states including Florida and Georgia, but even these projects are still quite limited in scope. Expect many limitations to go away.

And it’s more than just drone delivery. Enabling BVLOS drone flights will benefit long-range infrastructure inspections, emergency response, precision agriculture and automated monitoring across booth cities and rural expanses.

“This rule is for you,” said Lisa Ellman, CEO of the Commercial Drone Alliance, speaking at readers of The Drone Girl and other general drone industry insiders, . “It should reflect the needs of the broader drone industry. For those in the commercial drone space, this rule will impact how you do business for decades to come.”

What changes you can expect to see

Michael Healander, CEO of Airspace Link — a company authorized by the FAA to manage drone air traffic and one of only five with such status — called the development a breakthrough years in the making.

“Since we founded the company in 2018, we’ve been investing and building toward this moment. Our AirHub Portal platform manages over 100,000 monthly users across 6,000 unique businesses and government agencies.”

Since his company’s infrastructure is already operational, he said Airspace Link is ready to onboard the wave of new BVLOS operators.

More BVLOS flights

With more BVLOS flights, how would they work? Think of it as air traffic control for aircraft flying under 400 feet, except with thousands of flights occurring in highly dynamic urban and rural environments. At the heart of the challenge lies airspace awareness and coordination.

“We need digital and physical infrastructure to give specific government agencies the tools to use drones BVLOS, and to understand what is happening in the airspace,” Airspace Link’s Healander said. “When you have delivery drones, emergency response flights, infrastructure inspections, and military operations all sharing the same low-altitude airspace, you need a process for deconflicting when flying BVLOS in the same area.”

Airspace Link’s AirHub® Portal is already functioning as a situational command center that supports UTM (unmanned traffic management) capabilities. The other companies would operate in a largely similar manner.

“This process and coordination allow an Amazon delivery drone to avoid interfering with an existing police emergency response or a power line inspection,” Healander explained. “The logistics challenge is ensuring that every authorized BVLOS operator knows where other operators are scheduled to fly.”

And sure, we love to talk about package deliveries here on The Drone Girl, but the implications go well beyond e-commerce.

“BVLOS operations don’t just change how drones work; they change what’s possible,” Healander said. “We’re talking about routine medical deliveries to rural areas, automated infrastructure inspections that prevent power outages, and emergency response capabilities that can reach disaster zones before ground vehicles.”

More support for domestic drone manufacturing

The Executive Order also supports domestic drone manufacturing, prioritizing U.S.-made drones for federal use and export promotion, while signaling a tougher stance on foreign drone tech — particularly from China.

One word of caution from industry insiders: if a full ban on DJI and other Chinese manufacturers materializes, the impact could be sweeping. For example, the Department of Interior issued a report saying how an internal ban on DJI drones left them scrambling with out-of-date or more expensive gear. Even pilots outside the U.S. fear that a DJI ban could stifle innovation.

“It would significantly affect our customers’ business if not handled correctly,” Healander said, worrying it could be too much, too soon. “The U.S. needs several years to catch up.”

Possibly testing air taxis

The executive order also accelerates air taxi innovation through the creation of a new eVTOL integration pilot program. However, Healander cautions that we’re still a few years away from routine air taxi operations.

“Let’s get the low-altitude drones operating safely at scale before we step onto an air taxi with many small drones flying around it,” he said. “Fully autonomous passenger air taxis are still several years away—likely 2028 to 2030 for routine service.”

What’s next after Trump’s Executive Order on BVLOS drone flights?

Trump’s Executive Order requires the Secretary of Transportation — acting through the FAA Administrator — to issue a proposed rule within 30 days. From there, it must issue a final rule by early 2026.

During that period, there will be time for public comment, which is where you, readers, come in.

Ellman emphasized the importance of participation in the upcoming public comment period, encouraging stakeholders to thoughtfully engage with the rulemaking process.

“I think the public has been waiting for this rule for quite some time,” she said. “They have seen the enormous benefits of large-scale commercial drone operations both domestically and worldwide, and they want their communities to have the opportunity to reap the benefits from BVLOS operations.”

We’ll be monitoring that proposed rule and sharing it so you can provide comment back to the U.S. government.

“I would recommend that all stakeholders take the time to read the proposed rule, think about what works and what is missing, and then provide constructive feedback to the FAA and other stakeholders,” Ellman said.

And in the short term, experts expect, the immediate shift will be visible.

For example, Healander said the 270-day countdown will be marked by onboarding existing operators into BVLOS-compliant platforms, particularly in controlled environments like hospital campuses and industrial sites.

“Within the first year, routine infrastructure inspections will largely shift to automated BVLOS operations, dramatically reducing costs and improving safety for utilities, transportation departments, and telecom companies.”

How should the drone industry react to this news?

Sure we don’t have a rule yet. But in short, the drone industry should see what’s to come as generally good news. After all, the U.S. is finally moving from pilot programs to permanent, scalable BVLOS drone integration. That’s something the industry has been demanding for years.

CDA CEO Ellman said she thinks this will unlock a massive wave of investment that’s been waiting on regulatory certainty.

“Many investors have been sitting on the sidelines,” she said. “Once the rules are implemented, I think we will see significant investment.”

The CDA’s own press release was effusive in its praise, calling the executive orders “a significant step in advancing both innovation and security at a time when Executive Branch leadership and decisive action is essential for restoring American leadership in advanced aviation technologies like drones.”

With a clear path to scale, it seems as though 2025 could be the year the U.S. finally turns the drone industry’s immense potential into tangible impact.

This article was sponsored by….YOU! To keep insights like this coming, please donate to The Drone Girl! Use the button below or go through my PayPal to donate. Thank you!

The post Trump’s Executive Order on drones unleashes BVLOS drone flights appeared first on The Drone Girl.