Drone News UpdateDrone News: FCC Looks To Ban DJI and Autel Chips, Delivery Drones Overwhelm TX, SkyeBrowse Pricing
Welcome to your weekly UAS News Update, have 3 stories for you this week: SkyeBrowse rolls out new pricing tiers, The FCC moves to block DJI and Autel chips, and Amazon's delivery drones are overwhelming a Texas suburb.
SkyeBrowse just overhauled its pricing for drone 3D mapping. If you're not familiar, SkyeBrowse turns drone video into 3D models and maps. It's used for construction, inspections, insurance claims, and even crime scene documentation. The commercial teir starts at about 20 dollars a model, for basic capture and sharing. Pro adds exports and AI tools, like automatic floor plans and site plans. And a Public Safety and Enterprise tier costs 199 dollars a model per year, and adds things like CJIS compliance and Axon Evidence integration for law enforcement. Existing subscribers keep their old plans. And of course, the “Freemium” option is still available for those who want to try before you buy. Next, Starting October 13th, the FCC will block a brand new type of application. If a drone contains a circuit board made by DJI or Autel, it can't get a new FCC authorization. And here's the twist. It doesn't matter where the drone was built. Even a drone assembled entirely in the US, one that qualifies as Buy America or Blue UAS approved, can still get rejected if just one internal chip traces back to DJI. Pending applications filed before October 13th are grandfathered in. But if you change even one part on that application, the grandfathering goes away. If you're a US manufacturer with an application in the pipeline, now is the time to file, and to ask your suppliers exactly who made every board inside your aircraft. Last up, one resident in Richardson, Texas tracked 52 Prime Air drones flying overhead in a single day. Some flew as low as 150 feet. Amazon's permit allows up to a thousand flights a day from that hub. A local homeowners association leader told the Times the FAA has failed the city. Part of the frustration comes from the FAA's own ruling. Back on July 28th, the agency decided drone delivery noise does not count as a significant environmental impact nationwide. That decision also ended local comment periods for new hubs. There's also a mixed message on cameras. Richardson's city website tells residents the drones don't record video. Amazon told the Times its drones do record footage near delivery points. Speaking of Amazon…They’re now asking the FAA for up to a thousand drone flights a day out of a new hub in North Haven, Connecticut. That’s up to 365,000 flights a year, covering a 7.5 mile radius that reaches into New Haven, Hamden, and Wallingford. This is the first Prime Air hub in the Northeast to get a public comment window. Connecticut's environmental agency opened that window on September 16th. It closes October 1st. That thousand-flight number is nothing special. It's the same ceiling Amazon files in almost every city. What's unresolved is how much scrutiny this specific hub will get, since the FAA's new national noise ruling may let it skip a full local review altogether. If you live near New Haven, this is your window to speak up before it closes.And the conversation continues on Post flight where we discuss these stories uncensored in the Premium Community, link is in the description. We'll see you for the live Q&A on Monday. Have a good weekend!https://dronedj.com/2026/09/22/skyebrowse-price-drone-3d-model/https://dronexl.co/2026/09/21/fcc-logic-bearing-components-drones-october-13/https://dronexl.co/2026/09/21/amazon-drones-richardson-nyt-faa-signed-off/https://dronexl.co/2026/09/20/amazon-prime-air-north-haven-connecticut-1000-flights/
