eBee X Drones Claim to Be the First UAVs in the U.S. Approved for Operations Over People

Kansas-based AgEagle has been around since 2010 and specializes in designing and developing drones, as well as various flight hardware, sensors, and analytics software for the UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) industry.

The recent approval received from the FAA refers to the company’s eBee X series of drones, which includes the eBee X, eBee GEO, and eBee TAC fixed-wing unmanned aircraft systems. According to AgEagle, they are now the first and only drones on the market approved for OOP (Operations Over People) in the United States, which will contribute significantly to the growth of eBee utilization in the country, as stated by Barrett Mooney, the company’s CEO.

AgEagle’s eBee X drones are suitable for a variety of applications, in industries such as insurance (to assess storm damage), telecommunications (for network coverage mapping), inspections, and many others.

The new approval of the eBee X drones for OOP in the U.S. is just one of the many successes AgEagle can be proud of. The UAVs are also allowed to fly BVLOS (beyond visual line of sight) in Brazil and they have approval for OOP and BVLOS operations in Canada. Moreover, the drones are making significant progress in Europe as well, boasting of being the first ones to receive EASA (European Union Aviation Safety Agency) C2 certification and a Design Verification, which are both required by EASA for the aforementioned operations.

AgEagle’s portable eBee X drones offer flight times of up to 90 minutes (the eBee X and eBee TAC), are easy to use and deploy in less than three minutes, are can be hand-launched. They come included with the eMotion mission planning software that helps them fly and land automatically. All three models have a wingspan of 45.7” (116 cm) and weigh between 1.3 kg and 1.6 kg (2.2 lb and 3.6 lb), depending on the camera and battery. More info on each of the drones, their pricing, and availability can be found on the manufacturer’s website.