If youve ever worked through the night at a construction site, on an emergency response team, or just tried to light up a massive outdoor area, you know how clunky and frustrating traditional lighting towers can be.
Bulky, noisy, and slow to set up theyve been the only option.
Until now.Enter the Flying Sun 1000, a revolutionary drone-based lighting system thats built to light up the night literally.
Engineered by Freefly Systems, a Washington-based company known for its Alta X heavy-lift quadcopter, this industrial-grade drone delivers 300,000 lumens of focused LED illumination from above.
Thats about as bright as stadium floodlights.
But instead of needing a crane or tower, all it takes is one operator and a few minutes to get the Flying Sun into the air.Traditional light towers can be a hassle, especially in unpredictable environments like construction zones or disaster areas.
The Flying Sun 1000 does away with all that.
Tether it to a 5kW generator, an electric vehicle, or a standard power outlet, and this drone can hover silently (at just 56 decibels) for days no refueling, no repositioning, no fuss.Flying at around 100 feet, it can light up roughly 14,000 square feet at 10 foot-candles, providing the kind of illumination youd expect in a well-lit mall parking lot.
Push it higher, and the drone covers over 130,000 square feet about the size of two football fields.
And yes, its still usable light.Advertisement - scroll for more contentNew:ParaZero expands Class C5 safety to Mavic 3 Pro dronesOne of the drones cleverest features is how it keeps cool.
With 288 ultra-bright LEDs cranking out massive amounts of light, heat could be a problem.
But the Flying Sun uses its own rotor wash the downward airflow generated by its propellers to cool the lights.
This smart design not only keeps temperatures in check but ensures the drone can run for thousands of hours without requiring service.The whole setup is small enough to fit in the back of an emergency vehicle.
Whether youre a firefighter, an engineer, or shooting a movie on location, you can launch it on the fly and light up the scene in minutes.
Theres even a battery-powered option if you need to explore without being tethered to a power source perfect for search and rescue operations.At $60,000 per unit, the Flying Sun 1000 isnt cheap.
But when you compare it to the cost of installing multiple poles, running cables, hiring a setup crew, and doing maintenance, this drone starts looking like a smart long-term investment especially for large-scale, mobile, or high-risk operations.
Its safer too, avoiding the trip hazards and flood risks of ground-based setups.Freefly also sees potential for the Flying Sun in the film industry.
Lighting a nighttime scene usually requires massive rigs, lots of gear, and tons of prep time.
The Flying Sun can replace all that with one drone and a controller.
Instant light.
Minimal shadows.
No blind spots.Freefly says it is limiting production to just 10 units a month, with the first shipments going out in June 2025.
So if youre in construction, public safety, energy, disaster relief or filmmaking and you want to get in on the future of night work, nows your chance.More:DJI drone now certified for top-tier Netflix productionsFTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More.