ISight wins approval for statewide BVLOS drone operations across North Dakota's Vantis network
ISight Drone Services has been cleared to fly beyond visual line of sight across all four operating areas of North Dakota's Vantis system.
The approval makes ISight the first drone operator authorized to conduct BVLOS flights across the full Vantis footprint. Under a Part 107 BVLOS waiver, the company can now expand approved operations into eastern North Dakota and serve more than 5,000 square miles covered by the state-backed network. The move marks a notable step for a system built to support routine long-range drone flights with dedicated infrastructure, oversight and regulatory support.
Vantis is administered by the Northern Plains UAS Test Site and is described as the first statewide BVLOS system in the United States. North Dakota launched the effort with an initial investment in 2019 to provide commercial and public operators with infrastructure and approvals needed to scale drone missions across multiple industries. ISight's broader authorization indicates that Vantis has continued to satisfy Federal Aviation Administration expectations on safety, performance and oversight as the network expands. The waiver was accepted through the FAA's Near-Term Approval Process, a streamlined pathway used to review and approve more complex drone operations.
For ISight, the broader clearance opens new room for commercial work and applied research. The company said access to the full Vantis footprint will allow it to pursue missions across the state, including ongoing work with Altru Health System to study BVLOS medical deliveries between clinic locations. If those operations continue to prove safe and repeatable, North Dakota's model could strengthen the case for larger-scale BVLOS deployment in healthcare, infrastructure and other sectors that depend on reliable drone access beyond the pilot's line of sight.