With military drones on one end of the spectrum and consumer drones on the other, a sector is evolving in the middle as drones are increasingly adopted for commercial use. This emerging commercial industry has both growth challenges and opportunities for the future.
This conceptual note reviews the four primary commercial drone platforms: multi-rotor, fixed-wing, single-rotor, and hybrid. It then presents the ecosystem for commercial drones including hardware, software, and connectivity. After describing the current regulatory landscape, the note provides industry use cases and concludes with considerations for operating a successful commercial drone program.