The U.S. government authorised on Monday six sites where aerial drones can be tested for a variety of uses.
The Federal Aviation Administration already had approved limited use of drones in the United States for law enforcement, surveillance, atmospheric research and other applications.
Monday’s decision will give companies, universities and others place to test much broader uses, such as crop spraying, catching exotic-animal poachers or delivering packages, asAmazon.com Inc recently suggested.
“It provides the platform for this research to be carried out on a very large scale across the country,” FAA Administrator Michael Huerta told reporters.
Two of the states that passed drone laws, Texas and Virginia, were among those awarded test sites on Monday.
The other five sites will be developed by the University of Alaska, the state of Nevada, Griffiss International Airport in New York state, the North Dakota Department of Commerce, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, which includes locations in New Jersey.
While the test sites were hailed by governments and industry as a major milestone that would bring broad economic benefits to the winning regions, they also renewed privacy and safety concerns about the aircraft, which can hover over cities and record people’s movements with sophisticated video cameras.
