HoverAir has suspended orders for the Versa drone kit in the U.S.
Three days after launching its Indiegogo campaign, HoverAir stopped accepting U.S. orders for the Flight Kit for its modular Versa device. The Versa combines a compact camera with a detachable propeller module that transforms it into a drone.
According to The Verge, the company told campaign backers that it would ship only the camera to the U.S., not the Flight Kit, citing ongoing logistics updates regarding that module. At the same time, the publication noted that the entry for the HoverAir Versa had disappeared from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) database. According to The Verge, this could mean that the device’s approval has been revoked.
According to the publication, on August 9, the FCC approved the Versa as a camera, not as a drone. The Chinese company Zero Zero Robotics, which manufactures HoverAir, informed an FCC representative that the camera should not be blocked because the company is not included on the commission’s “Covered List” for cameras. At the same time, the FCC defines cameras as one of the critical components of drones, and manufacturers of drones and such components are automatically subject to the restrictions of this list.
For more breaking news, follow the UA.News Telegram channel.
If the FCC’s approval for the camera has indeed been revoked, the restriction may apply not only to the Flight Kit but also to the camera itself, which also requires FCC approval for import, advertising, and sale in the U.S. As of the time of publication by The Verge, the Indiegogo page did not offer the Flight Kit to visitors from the U.S., although it continued to advertise it. Users with Canadian IP addresses saw kits that included this module.
One user who had already placed an order for the camera wrote in the campaign comments that the service could not deliver the product to the specified address. HoverAir did not respond to The Verge’s request for comment. The publication also noted that last year, the company spent several months informing backers about the upcoming release of the waterproof HoverAir Aqua, even though it had not received the necessary approval for it.
