BVLOS and Part 108 Explained: FAA Rule for Drone Delivery (2026)

30-second version: Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) is the FAA term for flying a drone past where the operator can see it. Today (mid-2026) BVLOS is allowed only through individual case-by-case waivers under Part 107. That’s about to change. Part 108 is the new FAA rule covering BVLOS operations, published as a proposed rule August 7, 2025, with the comment window closed October 6, 2025, and final publication targeted for March 16, 2026. The rule covers drones up to 1,320 pounds, mandates detect-and-avoid technology, requires Remote ID and continuous position tracking, and creates two approval tiers — Permitted Operations and Operational Certificate.
Best for: Anyone planning long-range commercial drone work (inspection, mapping, delivery), anyone tracking US drone regulatory evolution, or anyone trying to compete in drone delivery or long-range autonomy services.
You’ll get: What BVLOS actually means, how the current waiver system works, what Part 108 changes, the detect-and-avoid technology requirements, and the timeline.
Skip if: You only do visual-line-of-sight work and have no plans to go BVLOS. Daily AI fundamentals in our free Beginners in AI newsletter.

Beyond Visual Line of Sight is the single biggest unlock in commercial drone operations. Most of the high-value drone services that haven’t scaled yet — long-distance inspection, package delivery, agricultural coverage, search-and-rescue at range, real-time mapping of large infrastructure — are blocked today by a regulatory framework designed when the operator was assumed to be standing within visual sight of the drone the entire time.

Part 108 changes that. Here’s the practical breakdown of what the new rule is, what it allows, and what changes for commercial drone operators in the United States.

What is BVLOS?

BVLOS — Beyond Visual Line of Sight — describes drone operations where the remote pilot (or a designated visual observer) cannot see the drone with unaided vision throughout the flight. The current FAA rule under Part 107 requires the pilot or observer to maintain continuous visual sight on the drone. Anything past that point — flying over a hill, around a building, into a forest, beyond the observable horizon — is BVLOS.

BVLOS is what most major commercial drone use cases actually require:

• Drone delivery — flying a package across a city or to a rural home is inherently BVLOS.
• Linear infrastructure inspection — flying along a power line, pipeline, rail line, or canal for miles.
• Large-area mapping and surveying — covering hundreds or thousands of acres efficiently.
• Search and rescue at range — covering large search areas in time-critical operations.
• Agricultural coverage — scanning large farms for crop health, livestock monitoring, irrigation analysis.
• Maritime and coastal patrol — covering coastline beyond what an operator can see from shore or a vessel.

Without BVLOS, all of those operations either don’t happen, require multiple operators leapfrogging the drone along the route, or proceed under individual waivers that take months to obtain.

What is the current BVLOS waiver process?

Under Part 107, BVLOS operations require an individual Part 107 waiver granted by the FAA. The process:

• Submission through the FAA DroneZone portal with a detailed operational plan.
• Safety case demonstrating equivalent level of safety to visual-line-of-sight operations.
• Technical requirements demonstrating the drone has the detect-and-avoid capability and the operator the procedures to mitigate risk.
• Site-specific limitations tied to the exact area, altitude, time, and conditions of the proposed operation.
• FAA review taking anywhere from 30 days to many months depending on complexity.

Companies like Zipline (medical delivery), UPS Flight Forward, Amazon Prime Air, Wing (Alphabet), and various pipeline-inspection firms have obtained BVLOS waivers for specific corridors and operations. The waivers are real but the process is slow, expensive, and constrains operations to pre-approved areas.

What does Part 108 actually do?

Part 108 replaces the case-by-case waiver model with a standardized regulatory framework for BVLOS operations. Major elements of the proposed rule:

Element	What it says
Maximum drone weight	Up to 1,320 pounds total
Subject-specific weight caps	Aerial surveying and civic-interest operations capped at 110 pounds
Approval tiers	Two: Permitted Operations (lower-risk) and Operational Certificate (higher-risk)
Detect-and-avoid (DAA)	Mandatory; drones must automatically detect and avoid other aircraft
ADS-B handling	Drones must yield to all manned aircraft broadcasting position via ADS-B
Remote ID	Required throughout flight
Position tracking	Continuous position reporting; integration with UTM (Unmanned Traffic Management) systems
Operator certification	Beyond Part 107; additional BVLOS-specific certification required
Right-of-way rules	Defined hierarchy with manned aircraft taking priority

The framework is broader and more permissive than Part 107 but also imposes substantial new technology requirements on the drone hardware. Current consumer and prosumer drones (Mavic, EVO) don’t meet Part 108 detect-and-avoid standards as-shipped. That part of the market will need new platforms or DAA-compliant add-on modules.

What is detect-and-avoid?

Detect-and-avoid (DAA) is the technical capability for a drone to automatically detect another aircraft in its airspace and take action to avoid collision. In manned aviation, this function is performed by the human pilot using vision plus instruments like TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System). For an autonomous drone flying BVLOS with no pilot looking out the window, the same function has to be performed by onboard sensors and software.

Common DAA approaches in commercial drone systems:

• ADS-B receivers. The drone listens for ADS-B broadcasts from nearby manned aircraft and responds.
• Acoustic sensors. Microphone arrays detect approaching aircraft by sound signature.
• Optical / computer-vision DAA. Onboard cameras with AI vision models trained to detect approaching aircraft.
• Radar DAA. Compact onboard radar systems specifically designed for drone airspace detection.
• Ground-based surveillance integration. The drone receives traffic data from ground-based ADS-B receivers or other ground surveillance.

Most BVLOS-capable systems combine two or three of these for redundancy. The FAA will not (under Part 108) accept single-sensor DAA solutions for most operations.

What is the timeline?

• August 7, 2025 — FAA publishes Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for Part 108.
• October 6, 2025 — Public comment window closes after 60 days of industry input.
• March 16, 2026 (target) — Final rule publication date.
• Effective date — typically 60–180 days after final publication; full implementation including UTM integration likely staged over the following 12–24 months.

FAA timelines slip. Treat the March 16 target as aspirational; final implementation may land later in 2026 or into 2027 depending on industry feedback and FAA process.

Who benefits most from Part 108?

• Drone delivery companies — Zipline, Wing, Prime Air, UPS Flight Forward, Manna, and similar. Today they operate under individual waivers; Part 108 lets them scale geographically without re-petitioning the FAA for every new corridor.
• Linear infrastructure inspectors — pipeline, power-line, rail-line, telecom-tower inspection operators get a much faster path to multi-mile coverage.
• Agriculture and forestry — large-area survey and monitoring without operator-leapfrogging.
• Public safety at range — fire, search-and-rescue, and police operations covering multi-mile areas in time-critical scenarios.
• Defense and government — many DoD operations already operate outside Part 107/108 under public-aircraft rules but the standardized DAA technology will accelerate dual-use systems.
• New entrants — companies that couldn’t bear the cost of individual waivers can now compete because the rules are standardized.

Who is concerned about Part 108?

• Manned-aviation pilots — particularly general-aviation operators concerned about increased BVLOS drone traffic in low-altitude airspace where small aircraft fly. Industry groups including AOPA and EAA have raised concerns in the NPRM comment cycle.
• Existing waiver-holders — some companies that have invested heavily in obtaining waivers worry about competitive disadvantage if the new rules let new entrants in without similar investment.
• Privacy advocates — large-area BVLOS surveillance raises privacy questions that the rule addresses only partially.
• Ground-traffic concerns — particularly near airports and built-up areas where drone-aircraft conflicts have the highest consequence.

The FAA NPRM cycle generated thousands of comments. The final rule is likely to incorporate some changes from the proposed text in response to those comments — particularly around DAA standards, weight limits, and rural-vs-urban operational distinctions.

How does AI fit into BVLOS?

• Onboard detect-and-avoid. Computer-vision DAA depends on AI models trained on aircraft recognition, distance estimation, and collision-avoidance maneuver planning.
• Autonomous mission completion. A drone flying 30 miles to a delivery address needs to handle wind, navigation deviation, battery management, and emergency-descent decisions without continuous operator input. That’s all autonomous-flight AI.
• UTM integration. The Unmanned Traffic Management system the FAA envisions for BVLOS-density airspace relies heavily on AI for trajectory coordination and conflict resolution.
• Real-time payload processing. Inspection, mapping, and surveillance applications need AI to do the data processing in flight rather than post-hoc.

FAQ

Can I fly BVLOS today?

Only with an individual FAA waiver under Part 107. Without a waiver, BVLOS operation is prohibited regardless of your equipment.

Will Part 108 replace Part 107?

No. Part 107 remains the framework for visual-line-of-sight commercial operations. Part 108 is an additional framework specifically for BVLOS. Operators may hold both certifications, or only Part 107 if they don’t need BVLOS capability.

Do consumer drones (DJI Mavic, etc.) qualify for Part 108?

Generally no. Consumer drones don’t ship with the detect-and-avoid capability Part 108 requires. Some drones will be upgradeable through add-on DAA modules; others won’t qualify regardless. Expect manufacturer-certified BVLOS-ready commercial drones in the post-final-rule market.

What is the difference between Permitted Operations and Operational Certificate?

The proposed rule’s two tiers reflect risk. Permitted Operations covers lower-risk BVLOS (smaller drones, lower-population areas, defined operational envelopes) with a simpler approval path. Operational Certificate covers higher-risk scenarios (larger drones, urban areas, package delivery) with more stringent technology and operator requirements. Exact definitions will be confirmed in the final rule.

Does Part 108 affect Remote ID?

Remote ID continues to apply. Part 108 requires Remote ID throughout BVLOS operations and adds continuous-position-tracking requirements beyond the current Remote ID broadcast.

Will Part 108 enable drone delivery in the US?

It removes a major regulatory bottleneck. Drone delivery still requires significant operational, infrastructure, and economic investment beyond the regulatory permission. But Part 108 is the unlock that lets companies scale geographically without per-corridor waiver fights.

Do I need to wait until Part 108 finalizes to start BVLOS prep?

No. Operators planning BVLOS services in 2026–2027 should be reviewing the proposed-rule text now, evaluating DAA-compliant platform options, and preparing operator training and procedures. The transition window will reward operators who are ready on day one.

The bottom line

Part 108 is the single biggest regulatory shift for US commercial drone operations since Part 107 itself in 2016. It replaces the slow case-by-case waiver model with a standardized framework, enables drone delivery at scale, opens long-distance inspection and surveying markets, and forces hardware manufacturers to ship detect-and-avoid as a core capability rather than an option.

The timeline is real but slippable. The final rule is targeted for March 16, 2026; effective dates and full UTM integration likely run into 2027. Operators planning serious BVLOS work should be tracking the rulemaking closely and prepared to move when the final rule lands.

For broader context: Part 107 Certification: The Complete 2026 Guide, AI in Drones: The Complete 2026 Guide, Best Commercial Drones 2026, DJI vs Skydio vs Autel. Daily AI fundamentals in our free Beginners in AI newsletter.

Sources

• FAA, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Part 108 BVLOS Operations (August 7, 2025).
• FAA, UAS regulatory hub — the FAA’s main page tracking Part 108 development, BVLOS rulemaking status, and related guidance.
• DLA Piper, FAA’s proposed Part 108 BVLOS Rule: Industry response and key concerns.
• Pillsbury Law, FAA Releases Long-Awaited BVLOS Proposed Rule.
• Executive Order 14305 on Unleashing American Drone Dominance (June 5, 2025) — the executive order that directed expedited completion of Part 108. Available via the Federal Register at federalregister.gov/agencies/federal-aviation-administration.
• FAA Aerospace Forecast and FAA UAS data products — faa.gov/data_research/aviation — primary source for registration data and operational statistics referenced in the post.
• FAA, Remote ID rule (related foundational rule).
• FAA, Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM) — concept of operations.

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