India’s first legal drone! On December 1st, 2018, India legalized drones and released several sets of rules for a safe flight. It also announced Digital Sky platform, a first of its kind to implement ‘no permission, no take-off’ (NPNT)- a novel system of software-based self-enforcement to minimize deviations from CAR (Civil Aviation Regulation).
Asteria’s A200 micro drone was issued the very first Unique Identification number (UIN) in India, U0000001, by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). A drone UIN is essentially like a license plate number issued for motor vehicles and is necessary for ensuring traceability and accountability. The UIN is issued on the Digital Sky platform after forming an end-to-end digital link between the drone, manufacturer, and operator. As a part of the regulation, every drone operator must obtain a UIN before being granted the permission to fly.
“The first NPNT drone flight is a watershed moment for the drone industry in India, after much effort having been put by all the government and industry stakeholders. Asteria is proud to be part of this journey and be associated with the first compliant drone flight and hope that this will pave the way for secure, safe and compliant drone operations for everyone to roll out throughout the country” says Neel Mehta, Co-founder and Director at Asteria Aerospace.
Asteria Aerospace thanks its partners, Quidich Innovation Labs, who purchased, applied for, and obtained the UIN on the A200 drone for their use, and Algopixel Technologies, who supported the drone registration process.
“Quidich is proud to have the first UIN registered in India and that it is an indigenous drone from Asteria Aerospace with whom we have a strong longstanding partnership. We are thankful to the DGCA for their cooperation through this process and hope to continue working with all stakeholders to ensure legal and safe use of drones in India.”, says Gaurav Mehta, Co-founder of Quidich Innovation Labs.
This brings certified and compliant drone operations in the country one step closer to reality under DGCA’s Civil Aviation Regulations for the use of drones in the civilian airspace.
