Richmond, Virginia – The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), joined by 26 leading organ donation and transplant stakeholder organizations, is urging the Federal Aviation Administration to preserve opportunities for lifesaving medical drone operations, including the transportation of organs for transplant.
The coalition’s comments, submitted this week in a public comment letter to the FAA, highlight the critical role logistics and transportation play in successful organ transplantation and the transformative potential of drone technology to improve the speed, reliability, and reach of organ delivery.
In June 2026, teams from UNOS, NASA Langley Research Center and LifeNet Health achieved a major milestone by successfully completing beyond-visual-line-of-sight drone flights transporting human research kidneys. Preliminary findings showed that the flights were successful, with no evidence they affected organ integrity.
These findings add to a growing body of research demonstrating how drone-enabled transportation could make organ delivery faster, more reliable, and more accessible, therefore helping connect more patients with lifesaving transplants.
“Every minute matters when transporting organs for transplantation,” said Mark Johnson, Interim CEO of UNOS. “As the nation’s donation and transplant system continues to evolve, it is important that federal policies support innovation to help improve transportation efficiency, expand access to transplantation and ultimately save more lives. We appreciate the FAA’s willingness to consider how emerging technologies can serve critical public health needs.”
Nationwide, more than 100,000 people are awaiting a lifesaving transplant, and 13 die each day while waiting. Improving transportation efficiency and reliability can help strengthen the transplant system and save more lives by delivering the right organs to the right patients on time.
As the transplant community continues to explore innovative transportation solutions, stakeholders urge the FAA to adopt a regulatory framework that supports the safe integration of drone organ transportation and other critical medical operations into the National Airspace System.
