The US Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) has said it is backing innovative ideas about drones operating in commercial airspace with $ 6 m of matching funding . It has called for proposals and said it expected at least seven proposals to win awards of $ 425,000-$850,000 . The BAA covers 10 specific areas, plus a catch-all for other relevant topics. White papers are due by the end of June , and full proposals a month later , with awards announced in August . The FAA funding schemes had to have passed initial research stages and be almost viable , with companies involved having to show an existing FAA contract or that funding would allow it a contract with a test site .
The US Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) has said it is backing innovative ideas about drones operating in commercial airspace with $ 6 m of matching funding . It has called for proposals and said it expected at least seven proposals to win awards of $ 425,000-$850,000 . White papers are due by the end of June , and full proposals a month later , with awards announced in August . The FAA funding schemes had to have passed initial research stages and be almost viable , with companies involved having to show an existing FAA contract or that funding would allow it a contract with a test site .