We run your drone operations remotely so your team doesn’t have to
Our Remote Operations Centres manage flights, compliance, and monitoring so your teams can focus on operations.
No more managing pilots and approvals
Running remote drone operations on any site takes specialised skills and ongoing regulatory management. Our Remote Operations Centres (ROCs) take on all of the compliance headaches and aviation risk for you. Your team requests a mission in SkyLink then our ROC team plans and executes the flight. Once the xBot lands, the captured data uploads automatically to SiteTube so the right people can access it.
24/7 availability
Schedule flights on-demand seven days a week across all Australian time zones
Continuity & redundancy
Our multiple ROC locations and failover systems ensure business continuity
Mission planning specialists
Our experienced mine surveyors and GIS specialists plan every mission for consistent results
Pay per use model
A fixed price per flight hour model lets you scale up and down on demand. Includes operations, insurance, and regulatory approvals
Reduce on-site drone operations
Managing pilots, training, and flight operations on site can be resource-intensive, difficult, and time-consuming.
Our Remote Operations Centres handle all flights remotely, with qualified pilots who monitor missions in real time. Your team gets the data they need without the day-to-day management of drone operations.
Easily request flights and track missions
Managing flight requests across multiple departments can quickly become difficult. Requests get lost in emails, priorities change, and teams often lack visibility into what is flying, what’s scheduled, and when data will be available.
SkyLink gives your operation a single place to request flights, track mission progress, and monitor drone activity. Anyone on site can request a mission, our remote operations team manages the flight, and stakeholders can see the status of every mission from request through to data delivery.
Simplify aviation approvals and compliance
Operating drones beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) requires complex regulatory approvals and ongoing management.
We manage approvals and compliance for you, including BVLOS operations and remote flight permissions. Your operations stay compliant without the administrative burden.
Get on-demand flights seven days a week
Mining doesn't always wait for the next scheduled survey. Whether you need updated blast imagery before loading can begin, rapid stockpile measurements for end-of-month reporting, or current site conditions to support operational decisions, delays in getting data can slow the operation.
Our Remote Operations Centres (ROCs) fly missions during all daylight hours, seven days a week. Combined with Starlink connectivity and 4G backup, xBot systems are designed to provide reliable access to drone data whenever it's needed.
Scale across multiple sites easily
Adding more drone operations shouldn't mean adding more pilots, more admin, and more operational overhead.
Our ROC allows qualified pilots to manage multiple drone operations from a centralised place, making it easier to expand across multiple sites safely. With approvals already established and new deployments typically completed within two weeks, you can scale drone coverage quickly without building an in-house aviation operation.
Skills & experience to support your drone operations
Our ROC teams are made up of qualified pilots, experienced surveyors, and mining GIS specialists. All available to help your operations whenever you need them.
Every mission flown by a commercial pilot
Every mission is flown by a CPL-qualified commercial pilot for the highest level of safety. Our large pool of pilots allows us to offer on-demand flights at short notice, any day of the week. When you need extra support, our pilots are available to help.
In-house surveyors who know mining
Our mining surveyors plan each mission and do quality control on the outputs. With years of experience, they know exactly what your in-house team is trying to achieve and how to get it. You can be confident that every flight captures the right data and delivers consistent, reliable data.
Seven day coverage across Australia
With Remote Operations Centres located in both Western Australia and South Australia, we provide coverage across all Australian time zones and daylight hours. Whether sites are operating on public holidays or daylight savings schedules, there is always a team available to support your flight operations.
On-demand capacity when you need it
Mining doesn't always run to a schedule. We collectively manage more than 4,000 flight hours every month, giving sites access to significant operational capacity for both routine and urgent requests. Whether it's a scheduled weekly survey or a last-minute blast flight, missions can be deployed quickly without waiting for personnel to become available.
Request it in SkyLink, we fly it
SkyLink connects your site directly to our ROC team. You request, schedule, prioritise, and track missions through a single platform while our pilots manage the flight execution. Everyone can see what's in the air, what's next, and what's been completed.
Data delivered automatically through SiteTube
Once a mission is complete, imagery and survey data begin uploading automatically to SiteTube. There's no manual file handling, data transfer, or waiting for personnel to return from the field. Teams can access and review captures almost immediately after landing.
See how our Remote Operations Centres work.
Remove the complexity of drone operations, reduce pressure on your team, and run safe, compliant missions at scale.
How it works
Get survey data and images whenever you need them. Schedule a mission, our remote pilots fly it for you, then your data is uploaded and ready to access in the cloud.
SkyLink
Anyone on site can schedule a flight in SkyLink.
Remote Ops Centre
Our ROC team plans the mission and flies the xBot remotely.
xBot Drone
The xBot drone launches and our ROC pilot flies the mission.
SiteTube
Your images & data are uploaded to Site Tube for your team to access.
Approved for Beyond Visual Line of Site Operations
Running drone operations at scale requires strict aviation compliance, and approvals to fly beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) can be complex and time-consuming.
Our Remote Operating Centres manage aviation approvals and compliance on your behalf. We are approved by Civil Aviation authorities to operate across Australia and Africa with a large team of experienced pilots who remotely plan, monitor, and execute missions beyond visual line of sight.
Your organisation can run safe, compliant drone operations without managing approvals, licensing, or regulatory requirements internally.
Flexible commercial options
People are often surprised by how affordable this technology is now. We make it easy to get started with flexible options to suit your operational and budget requirements.
You can choose to purchase or lease the DIAB unit and operate it yourself. Or get us to handle everything, including remote operations, with a flexible pay per use consumption model.
Contact us to learn more.
Numbers at a glance
See how our Remote Operations Centres work.
Remove the complexity of drone operations, reduce pressure on your team, and run safe, compliant missions at scale.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, RocketDNA's model is designed to allow drone-in-a-box systems to be operated remotely from their Remote Operating Centres (ROCs), enabling 24/7 operations without requiring a dedicated pilot on site.
RocketDNA can manage all the operational, safety and maintenance aspects of the drone program, including:
- Remote mission planning, flight operations and supervision
- BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) operations
- Flight planning, tracking and risk management
- Remote pilot staffing and rostering to cover all hours of the mining cycle across time zones
- Operational monitoring through Remote Operating Centres
- Regulatory approvals already held by RocketDNA
- Flight, maintenance and compliance processes
- 24/7 operational coverage and support
RocketDNA's remote drone operators conduct flight planning and execution from their Remote Operating Centres. With the support of highly qualified mining and GIS experts, missions are planned and flown by professional pilots (largely CPL holders); once complete, data is then handled and managed by qualified mining surveyors.
Your team will still define the operational requirements, priorities, reporting needs, and success criteria, while RocketDNA provides the remote flight operations capability. Our service is intended to act as an extension of your operational team, delivering flights and data outputs according to your requirements rather than replacing your operational decision-making. RocketDNA can work within any customer requirements and data needs.
RocketDNA provides access to its existing CASA approvals and BVLOS operating framework, allowing customers to leverage an established regulatory pathway rather than building and maintaining their own. A key advantage is RocketDNA's broad-area BVLOS CASA approvals, which can simplify and accelerate the introduction of new BVLOS operating areas by reducing the need for separate approval processes for every new site. This helps streamline expansion while ensuring operations remain compliant with aviation regulations.
The time required to make a site operational depends on the site's readiness, connectivity requirements, and regulatory approvals. In many cases, deployment can be completed in less than 30 days from project approval.
The process typically begins with a site assessment, where an experienced survey and operations team reviews coverage requirements, planned flight areas, and expected operational workloads to determine the most suitable system configuration.
A significant advantage of working with RocketDNA is the ability to leverage existing CASA approvals and BVLOS operational frameworks. This can substantially reduce deployment timelines, as obtaining BVLOS approvals independently can take 12–24 months depending on the operating environment and regulatory requirements.
On-site infrastructure requirements are minimal. Most sites only require a suitable hard stand area and access to power. The xBot system is delivered as a self-contained unit, simplifying installation and commissioning.
Many organisations assume that deployment will require extensive involvement from their IT teams. However, the xBot system includes its own communications infrastructure, including Starlink connectivity, meaning it does not need to connect to the site's corporate network. Flight and survey data is transmitted directly to the SiteTube platform, securely hosted on Australian servers, where authorised users can access data through a standard web browser.
With streamlined approvals, minimal site works, and independent connectivity, sites can be operational and generating value within weeks rather than months.
RocketDNA has built redundancy into its architecture, including:
- Multiple Remote Operating Centres across Australia and Africa
- Redundant power and communications systems
- Multiple connectivity pathways
- Low-latency satellite connectivity
- Dual 5G modems with failover capability
- Backup communications options including Starlink, Wi-Fi, and wired connections
- Emergency scenario procedures supported by trained operators
This design helps maintain operational continuity if a communication link or a single ROC becomes unavailable.
Customer case studies
See how our Remote Operations Centres work.
Remove the complexity of drone operations, reduce pressure on your team, and run safe, compliant missions at scale.