American-made Magellan™ Survey Drone Arises from Stealth at TSPS 2025

SAN ANTONIO, Oct. 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- SmartDrone Corporation launched Magellan™, an NDAA-compliant survey-grade industrial drone designed specifically for land surveyors, at the Texas Society of Professional Surveyors (TSPS) conference.

"SmartDrone was founded in 2020 with the sole purpose of bringing easy-to-use drone technology to all American land surveyors," said Rob Cammack, CEO of SmartDrone. "We have hundreds of customers across the United States, and we understand what they need in a drone platform, and most importantly, what they don't need. Surveyors said that drones were too costly and complex, and they didn't want to hire a drone expert to operate them."

"We listened to them and the problems they needed to solve. Magellan is the answer!" said Drew Whitehurst, VP of Product at SmartDrone.

The American-made mapping platform addresses three critical challenges that have plagued surveying operations: staffing issues, fragile equipment that fails during operations, and the choice between mass-market Chinese-made drones lacking domestic support or overpriced systems loaded with unnecessary features.

Magellan™ delivers survey-grade data with a 0.15' (~4 cm) absolute accuracy, supports all major GNSS constellations, and features a high-performance LiDAR engine producing 5.2 million points per second. The system can fly for up to 39 minutes and cover 150 acres per mission, significantly reducing flight requirements compared to competitive platforms.

"This drone is different than anything on the market. It's not an all-purpose drone with survey attachments, either. It's purpose-built for the realities of land surveying and, better yet, you don't have to hire a drone expert to use it. Almost any survey tech on your team can be flying profitably on day one," Cammack says.

Unlike traditional platforms with exposed payloads dangling from gimbals, Magellan™ features fully enclosed sensor protection. The system operates in temperatures ranging from 32°F to 122°F and withstands winds of up to 20 mph. With a flight time of up to 39 minutes and simultaneous LiDAR and photo capture, field tests show that surveyors can map up to 1,500 acres in a single workday.

Magellan™ offers an American-made, NDAA-compliant solution with manufacturing and support based in Tyler, Texas. The launch addresses growing concerns about supply chain security and dependence on foreign technology in critical infrastructure sectors. The system integrates with existing surveying software, including AutoCAD, Civil 3D, ArcGIS, Carlson, Trimble, Global Mapper, and more.

Surveyors can receive a limited-time $5,000 pre-launch discount now with a $100 refundable deposit. This pre-launch offering of $49,999 (will be $54,999 at launch) includes everything needed to start surveying immediately: the drone, rugged transport case, controller, complete battery system, Pulse Data Processor software with unlimited processing, and full warranty coverage.

The system made its official debut at the TSPS conference last week, at the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort & Spa in San Antonio, Texas.

About SmartDrone Corporation

SmartDrone Corporation  is a Texas-based industrial drone manufacturer and nationwide drone mapping service provider founded in 2020. The company specializes in American-made LiDAR and photogrammetry-equipped industrial mapping drones, purpose-built for land surveying and civil engineering workflows. Its products and services support operations in 28 states.

Learn more about Magellan™ at https://www.smartdrone.us/products/magellan.

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SOURCE SmartDrone Corporation