On June 30, 2025, the Department of Transportation Office of the Inspector General (DOT OIG) released its audit report assessing the FAA’s efforts to advance beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone operations outside the parameters of existing drone regulations.  Among many findings, DOT OIG found that the FAA has approved increasingly complex BVLOS drone operations but identified several shortcomings with respect to the agency’s ability to leverage its industry partnership programs in this space, such as the BEYOND program. The report identified seven recommendations to improve the FAA’s efforts to advance BVLOS operations, many of which are focused on creating efficiencies for and standardizing processes across the FAA’s partnership programs.