In a first, watchdog certifies two drone firms' ‘no-permission, no-takeoff’ tech

In a first, the civil aviation regulator has certified two Bengaluru firms -- Skylark Drones Pvt. Ltd and Throttle Aerospace Systems Pvt. Ltd – for compliance with no-permission, no-takeoff (NPNT) protocol under which a piece of software allows drones to take flight only after a digital signature granting permission.

The companies had applied through an online platform set up by the regulator called Digital Sky, which automates the approval process from a host of authorities including civil aviation safety watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, and the home affairs ministry.

The software developed by Skylark will be marketed to drone manufacturers, along with the data solutions developed by the company, said co-founder Mrinal Pai. “What has been holding the industry back is the absence of NPNT-compliant drones, which can generate unique identification numbers for obtaining permissions on the Digital Sky platform,” said Pai.