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Drones getting a zone of their own: An automated superhighway for unmanned aerial vehicles
- November 1, 2022: Vol. 15, Number 10

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Drones getting a zone of their own: An automated superhighway for unmanned aerial vehicles

by Mike Consol

The United Kingdom is set to become home to the world’s largest automated drone superhighway within the next two years. The drones will be used on the 164-mile Skyway project connecting towns and cities as part of a $334 million funding package for the aerospace sector, says a report by the BBC.

In the U.K. and other countries, drones are already used for many commercial tasks, such as inspecting infrastructure, surveying crops, filming videos, transporting medical supplies and, in some places, delivering packages and pizzas. The problem: Those flights are strictly limited by U.K. aviation regulators aiming to prevent accidents, especially collisions with manned aircraft. To circumvent the limitations, the British government has decided drones can be given freedom of the sky by creating what The Economist called the world’s biggest “superhighway.”

U.K. business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said the superhighway will “help the sector seize on the enormous

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