Bid for styling technology deploy Cloud-planted flares Small drone The resistance from the Airline Pilot Alliance is experiencing, and the union urges the Federal Aviation Administration to consider rejecting startup requirements unless it complies with stricter safety guidelines.
The FAA decision will point out how regulators can view weather modifications through future air systems. Rainmaker’s bet on small drones is pending.
The Air Pilot Association (ALPA) told the FAA that the rainmaker’s petition “failed to prove an equal level of safety” and posed “extreme safety risks.”
However, Rainmaker CEO Augustus Doricko said that in an email, all union objections were based solely on public notices, rather than non-public documents submitted to the FAA, which outlined all the company’s security data and risk mitigation.
Rainmaker is seeking exemptions rules that prohibit small drones from carrying hazardous materials. The startup was submitted in July and the FAA has not ruled yet. Instead, it publishes follow-up requests for information and urges details about operational and security.
In the application, the styling rainmaker proposed using two flare types, one “on-site burning” and the other can be ejected on the Elijah four-wheel drive to disperse the particles that stimulate precipitation. Elijah’s maximum altitude is 15,000 feet MSL (measured from sea level), and this elevation is located within controlled airspace, and commercial passenger planes usually fly. Drones require air traffic control permission to fly inside this bubble.
Rainmaker’s petition says it will operate in Class G (uncontrolled) airspace unless otherwise authorized. The ALPA notes that the document has not clearly stated where the flight takes place or which altitudes are used. However, Doricko said the documents submitted to the FAA disclosed that in addition to limiting flights to a maximum altitude of 15,000 feet of MSL, they will also be conducted in aviation space, which have pre-determined safety for aviation agencies, “any reasonable concern about high-altitude flights or space configurations.” ALPA did not respond to a request for comment from TechCrunch.
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The alliance also considered concerns about foreign object debris and fire safety. The ALPA notes that the petition does not include trajectory modeling of the ejected shell or analysis of the environmental impact of the chemical agent.
“As regarding their opposition to the use of flares, independent agencies such as this government EPA and multiple national natural resources departments have studied the dispersion and environmental security of materials used in cloud seeds for more than 70 years, and have never found any adverse effects of cloud seeds,” Doricko said.
Sam Kim, a aviation supervision manager for Stylist, said the company respects the pilot’s union and wants to “continue to strengthen relations with the organization”, but claimed the objection “shows a lack of understanding of why Stylist makes the application for such exemption”.
“We use flares in unmanned systems for research purposes only in controlled flight environments, which is not part of our larger ongoing operations,” Kim added.
Doricko said a typical styling rain action dispersed 50-100 grams of iodide, far less than flare flights, while an hour of commercial aircraft flight released a thousand kilograms of unapplied volatile volatile organics, sulfur oxides and soot, soot – much more than raincoat OPs.
“Rainmaker is interested in doing the best, responsible atmosphere research and is thus comparing flares to our proprietary aerosol dispersion system that will replace flares and exclusively emit silver iodide. ALPA’s objection to this exemplifies their limited understanding of our CONOP, all of which contains extensive risk mitigations in the non-public docs that the FAA is reviewing now,” Doricko said.
“As to the concerns about ALPA’s coordination with aviation authorities and airspace, our flight operations include broadcast signals, intentional coordination with local ATC, coordination of certified pilots, and collision avoidance systems involving electronic and physical observers,” he said.
But, Yuyangren said the flights will be conducted on rural areas and on property owned by private landlords, and “Yuyangren has established a close working relationship with it.”
Cloud seeds have already happened today, mainly in the western United States, where crew planes coordinate with state agencies. The actions of the ski resort committee committee help keep its white, irrigated and water areas flying snowdrifts in winter to help feed its reservoirs during the spring melt.
The general practice of cloud seeds dates back to the 1950s. By spraying small particles into certain clouds, scientists found that they can induce precipitation. Typically, cloud seed manipulation uses silver iodide for particles, mainly because they mimic the shape of ice crystals.
When silver iodide particles hit into ultra-cold water droplets, they cause the droplet to freeze quickly because its water is already below freezing point. Once ice crystals are formed, if the conditions are correct, it will grow rapidly, faster than droplets in similar situations. Additionally, rapid growth helps the crystals last longer than water droplets, which may evaporate before precipitation is possible.
Rainmaker’s twist (using drones instead of pilots to do the job) may be safer in the long run. The company noted that the flight profiles conducted close boundaries between remote pilots and trained crew members in rural areas and conducted additional safety checks.
What happens next depends on whether the FAA believes that these reliefs are sufficient. However, this is determined, and the agency’s response may set the tone for novel cloud-based cultivation methods.
9/13/2025: The story has been updated, including Rainmaker’s comments, from Ougustus Doricko, Founder and CEO, and Rainmaker’s Aviation Supervision Manager Sam Kim.
