I wonder how far away FAA approval is. It's such a slow burn. I...

I wonder how far away FAA approval is. It's such a slow burn. I noticed this article here: https://www.commercialuavnews.com/surveying/flying-beyond-visual-line-of-sight-at-record-breaking-altitude-with-percepto

So Percepto, who we unfortunately aren't affiliated with, now has the authorization to execute unmanned drone-in-a-box operations 200 feet above ground level without a pilot or visual observer on site.

In the article, there was also this comment:

Although Percepto’s authorization only allows drones to operate 200 feet above ground level BVLOS flights, BVLOS ARC’s proposes that, in the future, drones, not manned aircraft, have the right of way under around 400 feet. According to Dor Abuhasira, CEO and Co-Founder, “in 2023, we’ll see the fruits of FAA, with more nationwide BVLOS approvals and more highly automated BVLOS approvals. This process is the foundation for the next nationwide highly automated BVLOS approval—the holy grail we are waiting for—until a permanent BVLOS law will come into effect.”

I am curious as to just how much FAA progress we'll see this year. I also found this artcle, which does shed some light on the potential volume of HALO units that would be required by Droneup: https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/drones-are-already-delivering-pizza-if-you-havent-noticed/

DroneUp, another delivery startup, is expanding, too. "We are delivering on our commitment with our partner Walmart to open 34 delivery Hubs across six states, bringing drone delivery to 4 million Americans," CEO Tom Walker said in a statement. It's also expanding into other drone services, like construction site surveys, real estate photography and insurance claims support. It expects to train more than 1,000 drone pilots in 2023 at its DroneUp Flight Academy, up from 170 in 2022.

1,000 pilots nationwide, so does that give an indication of the size of the drone fleet? obviously they would be flying 1 at a time and not all would be working at the same time. Lets say 50% working at any one time = 500 active drones at any point in time. 500 drones requiring HALO at $1.5k USD each, thats $750k USD for the hardware. As the business evolves, the SaaS / recurring revenue from these drones will be sizeable.