Global Drone Mapping Market is a Rapidly Expanding Sector Expected to Reach $6.7 Billion By 2035

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NEW YORK, Sept. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Governments and companies alike are increasingly opting for drones for real-time decision-making, land surveying & evaluation, mapping and preventive maintenance. The market is set to continue its rapid growth in the coming years too. A report from Fact.MR said it predicts the global drone mapping market will reach USD 1.3 billion by 2025. At a strong CAGR of 17.1%, the industry is also expected to reach USD 6.7 billion by 2035. The report said: "Among the principal growth drivers is the increasing demand for speedier, safer, and more precise surveying solutions in areas where conventional procedures are risky or expensive. Governments are also putting money into pilot training, corridor investment in drones, and the making of rules to support aerial mapping procedures."  Fact.MR analysis revealed that swift digitization, policy transformation, and real-time data demands across industries are structurally reshaping the landscape. The report continued: "The key driver of drone mapping momentum is the global digital transformation agenda, especially in construction, farming, and environmental monitoring. Fact.MR is of the view that traditional methods of land surveying are diminishing with the outrageous cost factor and scalability issues. Mapping with drones provides faster, high-resolution insight critical to current decision-making frameworks.  Technological advancement is also crucial. The convergence of LIDAR sensors, real-time image processing, and multispectral data has made it possible to vastly enhance the accuracy and practical use of maps generated by drones. Such breakthroughs are transforming irrigation management, infrastructure planning, and emergency response operations into more efficient tasks."  Active Companies in the Drone Industry today include ZenaTech, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZENA), AEye, Inc. (NASDAQ: LIDR), Draganfly Inc. (NASDAQ: DPRO), Red Cat Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCAT), Ondas Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ONDS).

The Fact.MR article continued: "Strategic alliances between drone manufacturers, cloud infrastructure providers, and geospatial analytics firms are giving rise to new integrated solutions. These shared platforms will facilitate rapid deployment and speed up the creation of new drone capabilities such as AI-driven mapping interpretation and predictive modeling."  The report concluded: "Fact.MR foresees the industry in the United States to grow consistently at a rate of 5.2% between 2025 and 2035. The U.S. is technologically advanced, and a robust boom in the application of drones in construction, real estate, and agriculture has been witnessed. Regulatory environments, such as the FAA's initiatives to make drones popular in national airspace, will continue to evolve and facilitate companies using drone mapping solutions. Greater demand for high-end data analytics and precision technology will propel industry growth further. Greater investment in AI, automation, and software solutions will be the platform for ongoing industry growth."

ZenaTech (NASDAQ:ZENA) Signs Offer to Acquire Washington Land Surveying and Mapping Firm Expanding Drone as a Service (DaaS) in the Northwest Tapping into an $8.5 Billion US Market - ZenaTech, Inc. (FSE: 49Q) (BMV: ZENA) ("ZenaTech"), a business technology solution provider specializing in AI (Artificial Intelligence) drones, Drone as a Service (DaaS), Enterprise SaaS, and Quantum Computing solutions, today announces that it has signed an offer to acquire a well-established land surveying and mapping firm located in the state of Washington with a history of customers and past project success spanning across both Washington and Idaho.

"When closed, we anticipate this acquisition will give us another location in our rapidly expanding US Drone as a Service business, establishing a strong foothold in the Northwest and unlocking significant opportunity particularly in drone-based land and marine surveys," said Shaun Passley, Ph.D., ZenaTech CEO. "This will also help strengthen our vision to deploy AI-powered drones across multiple traditional services including surveying, power washing, inspections, and precision agriculture, delivering incremental speed, precision, safety and efficiency."

According to a report by Verified Market Reports, the US land surveying services market was valued at approximately USD 8.5 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach 12.3 billion by 2033, reflecting strong and sustained demand for accurate, technology-enabled survey solutions. This proposed acquisition represents another step in ZenaTech's DaaS expansion plan embedding AI-powered drone technology into critical survey workflows and data management, creating new opportunities for scalable recurring revenue.

ZenaTech has now completed nine acquisitions toward its goal of acquiring and establishing 25 Drone-as-a-Service locations by mid-next year. The company's DaaS model provides flexible, on-demand subscription or pay-per-use access to drone services for surveying, inspections, automation, and more, eliminating the need for business and government customers to have to invest in drone hardware and software, pilots, maintenance, or regulatory compliance. The company is acquiring land surveying and other businesses ripe for drone innovation, to advance its national vision for a scalable, tech-enabled multiservice drone business anchored by existing customers and recurring revenue.   Continued…  Read this full release and additional news for ZENA by visiting:  https://www.zenatech.com/newsroom/

Other developments in the drone/UAV industries include:

AEye, Inc. (NASDAQ: LIDR), a global leader in software-defined, high-performance lidar solutions, recently announced a strategic partnership with Flasheye, a pioneer in real-time 3D perception software. By integrating Flasheye's advanced perception engine into the recently launched OPTIS™ platform, AEye is delivering on their commitment to create a full-stack 3D visual awareness system that delivers real-time detection and analysis across critical use cases in infrastructure, transportation, and safety applications.

"Our partnership with Flasheye combines AEye's ultra long-range, software-definable lidar with their perception technology to deliver a highly scalable, intelligent system capable of detecting objects up to one kilometer away. I am excited to say that we have already begun to deliver this powerful solution in real-world deployments across airport safety, transportation logistics, and perimeter security."

Draganfly Inc. (NASDAQ: DPRO), an award-winning, industry-leading drone solutions and systems developer, recently announced it will attend the upcoming Countering Explosives Conference hosted by Defence iQ. Together with Autonome Labs, Draganfly will highlight progress on the M.A.G.I.C (Mine and Ground Integrated Clearance) system, integrated on Draganfly's Heavy Lift UAV, which is designed to modernize mine and route clearance operations.

This builds on the strategic teaming agreement announced May 1, 2025, where Draganfly and Autonome committed to pairing Draganfly's Heavy Lift drone platform with Autonome's mesh-based M.A.G.I.C. system to deliver safe, precise, and scalable aerial demining solutions. Initial integration and testing are planned in 2025, with pilot deployments expected in post-conflict regions later in the year. Read the earlier announcement here.

"Minefields stop movement and cost lives. Traditional clearance is slow, dangerous, and manpower-intensive," said Cameron Chell, CEO of Draganfly. "By working with Autonome Labs, we're showing how M.A.G.I.C., integrated with Draganfly's Heavy Lift UAV, provides a cost-effective, mission-ready solution that protects personnel and accelerates mobility."

Red Cat Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCAT), a U.S.-based provider of advanced, all-domain robotic solutions for defense and national security, recently announced a strategic collaboration with Safe Pro Group Inc. (Safe Pro), a leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI)-computer vision technologies.

Through this collaboration, Safe Pro's patented AI-powered image analysis technology will be embedded into Red Cat's Black Widow drones, enabling U.S. and allied ground personnel to rapidly identify and locate more than 150 types of explosive threats including landmines, anti-personnel mines, cluster munitions, and unexploded ordnance (UXO) in real-time.

LightPath Technologies, Inc. ("LightPath," the "Company," "we," or "our"), a leading provider of next-generation optics and imaging systems for both defense and commercial applications, recently announced it has entered into a definitive agreement with Ondas Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ONDS), a leading provider of autonomous aerial and ground robot intelligence solutions, and Unusual Machines, Inc. (UMAC), a leading provider of NDAA-compliant drone components, for an $8.0 million private placement of LightPath's Class A common stock.

The private placement consists of the sale of 1,600,000 shares of common stock at a price of $5.00 per share which each of Ondas Holdings, Inc. and Unusual Machines, Inc. will purchase $4 million of shares. Proceeds will be used for working capital to advance key LightPath commercialization initiatives and for general corporate purposes. The offering is expected to close on or about September 17, 2025, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

Eric Brock, Chairman and CEO of Ondas Holdings, commented: "We provide customers in rail, energy, public safety, critical infrastructure, and government markets with mission-critical networks, autonomous drones, counter-drone solutions, and artificial intelligence capabilities – LightPath's innovative offering enables reduction in size, weight, and cost of camera systems which ultimately provide new capabilities that expand the used case for our products, which is critical to their widescale adoption. Our investment underscores our belief that LightPath will be a leading provider of next-generation optics and imaging systems for the drone industry."

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