Recent hearings on Capitol Hill highlight issues requiring attention before the drone industry can fully realize its economic value.

The value of the commercial unmanned aerial systems (UAS or drone) industry has grown to about US$1 billion, but within a decade the annual value of drone activity could be tens of billions domestically, and well over US$100 billion globally. However, in order to assist this evolving industry’s efforts to truly get off the ground, federal regulators continue to face tough questions regarding how to balance safety and security while fully integrating drones into the national airspace system (NAS).