Welcome to Your Drone Questions. Answered from Drone Launch Academy. Host Chris Breedlove sits down with Tom Searing (Seiler GeoDrones) to tackle a hot late-2025 question: Can U.S. operators finally run a truly American-made, NDAA-friendly, end-to-end LiDAR stack—from airframe to sensor to workflow?
What you’ll learn:
- What “end-to-end” LiDAR actually looks like for U.S. teams (airframe → payload → planning → processing → export)
- A quick tour of Flux payload options (H1 / O1 / L1) and when each makes sense
- How the Flow app simplifies setup, status checks, processing, and exporting in the field
- Mission-planning notes (calibrations, overlaps, orthogonal passes) and why dual-antenna GNSS matters
- Cost model highlights: Flow is included with the sensor (no annual software fee), plus an optional Verizon Hyper Precise RTK subscription if you want always-on RTK; PPK remains viable
- Field-friendly data handling: scan, verify a quick point-cloud render on the tablet, export LAZ/LAS, and go
- Availability & demand outlook as we head toward early 2026 ramp-up
Connect with Tom and check out Freefly Flux:
https://freeflysystems.com/flux
https://freefly.gitbook.io/astro-public/other-user-manuals/freefly-payloads/flux-lidar-payload
tsearing@seilerinst.com
https://www.seilergeodrones.com/
Have a question for a future episode?
Send it in and we’ll tackle it on the show: chris@dronelaunchacademy.com
or visit ydqa.io.
