Airspace crisis: Virginia Beach-based DroneUp tackles the growing threat in low-altitude airspace
The Speaker:
Tom Walker is the founder and CEO of DroneUp, the Virginia-based tech company tackling America’s growing airspace crisis.
A former special operations officer and recognized leader in autonomy and aviation innovation, Walker built the largest drone services network in the U.S. with over 55,000 independent operators, then launched the nation’s largest drone delivery network, reaching over 4 million customers in just nine months.
Today, he’s focused on one mission: working with the Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, and the White House to bring order to low-altitude airspace before disaster strikes.
Previously, Walker served as an officer in the U.S. Navy for almost 17 years, pioneering military and government digital reform through extensive re-programming and web enablement of computer systems to support both U.S. and International Special Forces.
He has also served as an advisor to the White House on technology innovation and its impact on the emerging workforce.
Walker serves on the board of RVA757 Connects.
Tune in to a free webinar on Wednesday May 7 at noon to discover how Virginia Beach-based DroneUp is confronting America’s growing airspace crisis with next-generation traffic management technology. Founder and CEO Tom Walker will break it all down during a Virtual Innovation Spotlight webinar.
Low-altitude airspace is on the edge of collapse. Over one million drones now operate in the U.S. — outnumbering crewed aircraft four to one — and most fly without real-time oversight or deconfliction.
Near-misses are climbing. Emergency missions have been disrupted. Unauthorized flights near critical infrastructure are surging.
This isn’t a future risk — it’s a current failure. Legacy air traffic systems can’t manage autonomous traffic at scale, and no unified framework exists to coordinate the chaos. Agencies are siloed. Data is fragmented. And as autonomy grows, the risks will only escalate.
DroneUp isn’t waiting for disaster to strike.
The company has already deployed a real solution — and is working with the Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, and the White House to bring it to national scale before tragedy makes it unavoidable.
During the webinar, Walker will present stats that are both surprising and alarming, and they reveal just how close the nation already is to a preventable tragedy.