First Commercial RTF 5G Drone for BVLOS Flights

About the product

Hong Kong-based Sky Drone has become the first drone manufacturer in the world to launch the Sky Drone Mk1 ready-to-fly drone on the market, controlled by the fifth generation of 5G mobile communications. According to Sky Drone, this event brought us even closer to the first flights of commercial UAVs under instrument flight rules or beyond the line of sight (BVLOS or Beyond Visual Line of Sight).

Drone weight is 2.4kg (with battery, without payload), max. take-off weight, taking into account the payload, is 3.4 kg, and the flight duration is 45 minutes. The Sky Drone Mk1 is controlled from a ground station based on a PC or tablet using an optional joystick/gamepad. Control does not require a traditional controller: all control commands are transmitted over the 4G/5G network. The system is compatible with ground control software such as QGroundControl and Mission Planner.

About the developer

Sky Drone specializes in drone connectivity technologies and has been a leader in 4G/LTE drone equipment in recent years. For some time, the company has also been developing 5G network equipment for long-range flight. Why Sky Drone recently entered into a partnership with the German company Droniq (a joint venture between the German air traffic control and Deutsche Telekom).

Peculiarities

• Takeoff, flight and in-flight control from a ground control station
• Broadcast FHD video stream in real time
• Remote photography trigger
• 20MP 4K camera (default)
• Mission planning via ground control station
• Emergency intervention via ground control
• Connection loss scenarios (hangup, RTH)
• High-precision positioning with real-time kinematics (RTK)
• Live video streaming (via third party software such as OBS)
• Payload options from different vendors
• Traffic awareness and collision avoidance FLARM (optional)
• Additional payload options

Specification

Drone

Classification:

Class 2 UAV EU UAS Class C2

Autonomy:

45 min

Diagonal size:

600 mm

Weight (with battery without payload):

2.4 kg

Max. takeoff weight (MTOM):

3.4 kg

Max. horizontal flight speed:

80 km/h (Fast Mode)
45 km/h (Position Mode)

Max. wind resistance:

15 m/s

Max. ceiling above sea level:

5000 m

Positioning accuracy (in P-mode with GPS):

±0.5 m (GPS enabled)
±0.1 m (RTK enabled)

RTK Positioning Accuracy:

5 cm+1 ppm (horizontal)
5 cm + 1 ppm (vertical)

Food:

12Ah, 26.1V Lipo

Operating temperature range:

-10°C to 50°C

Connection:

4G/5G

Flight controller and software

PC:

compatible with PX4 FMUv5

Control and flight protocols:

MAVLink Dronecode Standard

Ground station software:

Sky Drone FPV Client Software (included)

System requirements:

Minimum: Intel i5, 4GB RAM
Featured: Intel i7, 8GB RAM, dedicated graphics card

Operating system:

Windows 7/8/10; Linux: Ubuntu 14.04 or later; macOS (coming soon); Android (coming soon); iOS (coming soon)

Ground support and control station:

stock camera

Type of:

Yuneec E90

Weight (powered without gimbal):

350gr

Focal length:

23mm

Color sensitivity:

RGB

line of sight

DFOV 91°

Video resolution

UHD: 4K at 60 fps
2.7K at 60 fps
2.5K at 60 fps
FULL HD: 1080p@24/25/30/48/50/60/120fps

Compression speed:

100Mbps

Compression type:

AVC/HEVC

DNR:

2D filter

Video transmission distance:

up to 1.6km

Effective pixels:

20MP

Photo Format:

RAW(DNG)/JPEG

Electronic Shutter:

1/8000 – 4s

Elements:

7G2P

Memory (file storage):

micro SD card CLASS 10 U3

Aperture range:

F2.8

Matrix size:

1″ CMOS

Storage temperature:

-10°C – 50°C

Working temperature:

-10°C – 40°C

4G/5G connectivity

BVLOS transmission range:

unlimited
Data and video transmission is available in any mobile network coverage area; incl. international roaming zones.

Video link quality:

Full HD (up to 1080p 30fps)

Antenna:

dual external antennas included

Typical Glass-to-Glass delay:

<150ms

Typical data consumption in 4G/LTE/5G networks:

10 minutes of streaming consumes:
Full HD at 6 Mbps: 450 MB
HD @ 2 Mbps: 150 MB
Low quality at 50Kbps: <4MB

Supported 5G NR:

Category: 5G NR Sub-6
Frequency bands:
n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n12, n20, n25, n28, n38, n40, n41, n48, n66, n71, n77, n78, n79
4G fallback supported

Supported 4G/LTE:

Category: Cat-20
B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B7, B8, B12, B13, B14, B18, B19, B20, B21, B25, B26, B28, B29, B30, B32, B34, B38, B39, B40, B41, B42, B43, B46, B48, B66, B71

Transfer rate:

peak download speed: 4.5 Gbps
Peak upload speed: 660 Mbps

Private LTE networks:

local private networks 3.5 GHz (CBRS band)
FCC certified for CBRS private networks for reliability, security, flexibility and cost savings

Approvals:

Planned carrier: AT&T (FirstNet), docomo, LGU+, Telstra

Legal framework:

FCC, GCF, KC, PTCRB, EU RED, JATE/Telec

*For more information on transferring data, see the How-It-Works developer video.

SIM card and mobile operator requirements

In order for the Sky Drone Mk1 to communicate with the ground control station, the customer must obtain a data-enabled SIM card from their mobile operator. As stated above, Sky Drone Mk1 supports various 4G and 5G frequency bands that are used worldwide in all countries. Customers are still advised to double check with their mobile carrier for frequency support in regions where the Sky Drone Mk1 is planned to be deployed. In short, all the customer needs, apart from the Sky Drone Mk1, is a data-enabled SIM card.

Chamber payload

The Sky Drone Mk1 is compatible with a variety of payloads. This includes Yuneec E10TX, E10TvX, E30ZX and E90X. Sky Drone Mk1 comes with Yuneec E90x camera by default.

RTK GPS and FLARM

The drone is equipped with a 20MP 4K camera as standard. Real-time video is transmitted in HD quality via the mobile network. For more accurate navigation, the drone is equipped with RTK GPS modules. Optionally, the drone can be equipped with the FLARM collision avoidance system.

The aircraft requires a data-enabled SIM card to connect. The Sky Drone Mk1 has global mobile network compatibility, including all leading carriers in every country in the world. The drone has already been shipped to international pre-order customers for industrial, commercial and government applications.

“The Sky Drone Mk1 is an important milestone in the evolution of autonomous flying drones. Now you can order a 5G drone ready to fly from us. The aircraft is ready to fly out of the box and can be operated anywhere in the world,” said Boris Boege, CEO of Sky Drone. The Sky Drone Mk1 ships worldwide and can be ordered from the developer’s website.

Encryption system

The Sky Drone Mk1 is end-to-end encrypted using AES256 encryption, a FIPS 197-approved cryptographic algorithm. Communication between the aircraft and the ground control station is protected by state-level encryption, including command and control commands, telemetry data, and video images. Thus, Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) and Secure Real-Time Protocol (SRTP) use AES256.

Application

• Monitoring for law enforcement and security
• Infrastructure monitoring
• Aerial surveillance and mapping
• search and rescue missions
• Law enforcement
• Broadcast video

Price and delivery

Drone Sky Drone Mk1 is available for purchase on the official website of the developer. Free shipping is carried out to all countries of the world. The starter kit will cost the consumer $9,500.