As drone technology rapidly evolves, integrating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into shared airspace remains a complex but exciting challenge requiring innovation, regulation, and collaboration. Zipline, a leader in the UAV operations, is at the forefront of advancing the future of unmanned aircraft system traffic management (UTM) and beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) capabilities. From pioneering medical drone deliveries in Rwanda to expanding its services across multiple industries and continents, Zipline continues to push the boundaries of drone logistics. As the company scales, it is tackling one of the most critical aspects of long-term UAV viability: airspace integration.
At the Commercial UAV Expo in 2024 in Las Vegas, Eszter Kovács, Co-founder and CEO of DroneTalks, sat down with Peter Sachs, Zipline’s Head of Airspace Integration Strategy, to discuss how the company is navigating regulatory landscapes, streamlining UTM processes, and contributing to the Dallas-Fort Worth UTM Key Site project. This initiative, backed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), is testing real-world drone deconfliction strategies to support the large-scale expansion of autonomous drone operations.
In this conversation, Peter shares his journey from air traffic control to UTM leadership, explains how Zipline is working toward a unified regulatory approach, and highlights the next steps in making drone deliveries more efficient, scalable, and globally accessible.
From air traffic control to UTM innovation: Peter’s journey to streamlining drone integration
Peter previously worked as an air traffic controller, which sparked his interest in drones and UAVs and how they fit into the wider aviation industry, especially when it comes to shared airspace and integration.
Reflecting on his time as an air traffic controller, Peter recalled the challenges drone operators faced when seeking permission to fly. At the time, the process was manual and time-consuming, requiring air traffic controllers to review and approve each request individually. As one of the people responsible for processing these applications, Peter quickly realised how complicated the system was.
“As a controller, I was one of the people who started processing different requests and applications, and it got me curious in thinking, what is the actual risk of doing this?” he explained.
The inefficiencies of the system sparked a broader question: Could this process be automated to make drone integration more seamless?
“How can we automate and streamline it so a human doesn’t have to look at each application to see if a drone can fly?” he added.
This early experience set the foundation for his transition into UTM development, where he would later work on automating these processes and shaping regulations to enable large-scale drone operations.
Since his time as an air traffic controller, Peter has built an extensive and diverse career in the aviation and aerospace industry, contributing significantly to the development and implementation of UTM systems. After his tenure in air traffic control, he transitioned into the private sector, joining Airbus, where he played a pivotal role in shaping the early architecture of UTM. His work at Airbus involved collaborating with key stakeholders across the aviation industry, integrating emerging technologies, and laying the groundwork for a more connected and automated airspace.
Following his success in the private sector, Peter took on a crucial role as a UTM Programme Manager at the FAA. In this position, he was instrumental in advancing policy and regulatory frameworks to support the safe and efficient integration of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) into national airspace. His work focused on translating UTM concepts, developed through research by NASA and industry leaders, into practical, real-world regulatory applications. He worked closely with policymakers, technology developers, and aviation experts to establish guidelines that ensure the seamless operation of unmanned aircraft while maintaining airspace safety and efficiency.
Throughout his career, Peter has remained at the forefront of air traffic modernisation, advocating for innovative solutions that balance technological advancements with regulatory requirements. His expertise in both operational air traffic management and emerging UTM technologies has positioned him as a key figure in shaping the future of autonomous and unmanned aviation systems, especially for Zipline.
How Zipline is standardising drone regulations for global airspace integration
Speaking about his work at Zipline, Peter explained why the company created the new role of Head of Airspace Integration Strategy — a necessary step in ensuring Zipline's long-term success in global drone operations.
“Zipline realised there were a couple of blind spots. They were involved in developing a few specific industry standards, but they didn't have a clear picture of how the overall landscape existed and how it was going to evolve,” he said.
Traditionally, organisations like the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) have developed technical standards for drones and their sub-systems, ensuring they function correctly. However, Peter emphasised that the real value lies in how regulators adopt these standards.
“The key is when a regulator can pick up a standard and say, ‘This standard meets this regulation,’ effectively coupling the two to create a means of compliance,” explained Peter.
For Zipline, this new role is also about efficiency and scalability.
“We don't want to tailor our aircraft design to each country that we operate in for different regulatory requirements,” Peter stated, emphasising the hope that this approach will lead to broader regulatory recognition.
“We want to ideally have one fixed aircraft design that complies with a set of industry standards and then over time, hopefully, regulators will recognise those standards,” he added.
This new role and Zipline’s broader approach go beyond just compliance. By proactively shaping industry standards and aligning regulations, Zipline aims to create a more cost-effective, scalable, and globally viable drone delivery network — helping to expand access to critical supplies like medical deliveries and groceries in communities worldwide.
Zipline’s work in Dallas-Fort Worth: Advancing BVLOS and UTM for scalable drone operations
Zipline is playing an integral role in shaping the future of BVLOS and UTM, collaborating in the Dallas FAA-designated UTM Key Site. This site serves as a crucial testing ground where industry leaders collaborate to refine operational procedures and UTM technologies. It also provides a framework for operators and UAS Service Suppliers (USSs) to test real-world scenarios while the FAA works to secure exemptions and develop a regulatory pathway for routine BVLOS drone operations.
In a major milestone last year, the FAA authorised both Zipline and Wing Aviation to conduct commercial drone deliveries without visual observers. This marked a significant step toward scalable, automated drone logistics, allowing both companies to operate safely while relying on UTM technology to avoid conflicts in shared airspace. These authorisations support the FAA’s broader efforts to develop standardised UTM rules that will eventually enable widespread BVLOS operations without the need for individual exemptions.
Speaking about Zipline’s involvement in the project, Peter emphasised the importance of the collaboration.
“What we’re doing in Texas, we can replicate in other areas of the world,” he explained.
Peter also explained that the FAA has created an environment whereas industry companies can really innovate and apply learnings while still meeting that high safety mark.
“I think it's really creating a new way of working with a regulator, where we have an industry consortium,” Peter stated.
Despite the progress made in Texas, Peter noted that there is still work to be done before these lessons can be fully applied on a global scale.
“We are still in that process of getting all the different service providers and operators onboarded, connected to the system, and de-conflicting their flights automatically,” he added.
Through its participation in the Dallas-Fort Worth UTM Key Site, Zipline is helping to refine the regulatory and technological framework for BVLOS drone operations, with ongoing learnings that will further shape the future of scalable, autonomous deliveries.
Enhancing UTM in Dallas: The next steps toward scalable, efficient drone integration
The next stage of the Dallas UTM project is ensuring that all collaborators align on the roadmap ahead and define the next steps for advancing drone integration.
Peter explained that the primary focus in Dallas has been on strategic deconfliction — ensuring drones can safely operate in shared airspace while minimising collision risks. However, he emphasised that this approach does not replace detect-and-avoid (DAA) capabilities, which remain essential for safe operations.
“As drone operators, we all have our own detect-and-avoid systems to manoeuvre away from crewed aircraft — and the FAA requires that — but this is adding a new safety layer where previously we all had to manually coordinate and deconflict from other drone operations, and a lot of that was looking at NOTAMs, which of course doesn’t scale,” Peter explained.
The work in Texas is helping to automate this process, introducing more certainty and predictability in how drones safely integrate into the airspace.
The first step has been achieving safe integration at a foundational level, with a system accepted by the FAA that prioritises operations on a first-come, first-served basis. However, Peter acknowledged that this approach, while functional, is not the most efficient for large-scale operations.
“If Zipline dispatches 10 drones in a row, then Wing is operating nearby and comes a couple of minutes later, they may have to wait which is not necessarily efficient. We need to start looking at how we maintain efficiency so that users don’t get locked out or delayed.”
Another key priority moving forward is integrating public safety operators into the system. Ensuring emergency services receive appropriate priority while maintaining a scalable and efficient framework is critical to the project’s success.
Reflecting on the ongoing collaboration, Peter highlighted the importance of real-world testing in refining UTM solutions.
“Dallas is really important for us to start building and applying all of these things you can test in a simulation, and think it works really well, but as soon as you put it in the real world you realise it didn't happen quite the way we wanted it to, so we reiterate and improve it.”
As Zipline and the FAA continue to advance UTM systems in real-world environments, the lessons learned in Dallas will help shape a future where drone operations are not only safe but also scalable and highly efficient.
By working alongside regulators and industry leaders, Zipline is actively defining the future of autonomous aerial logistics, helping to develop policies and technologies that will enable drones to seamlessly integrate into complex airspace environments worldwide.
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