A Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems Operating Certificate (ROC) is just as good as gold dust in Africa, which is why every single one that is issued by a regulating authority anywhere on the continent is cause for celebration.

The costs involved in the application process are just too prohibitive for most start-ups, and the process itself would sometimes take years until an applicant gets certified.

Which is why today we are celebrating with the Zimbabwe National Geospatial and Space Agency (ZINGDSA), a government agency focused on geospatial science and space technology, which was put through the furnace by the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ), and emerged with flying colours.

ZINGSA uses drones for various applications, which include Crop monitoring, survey and mapping and earth observation.

And last week, the agency was celebrating after its application for a ROC finally came through.

“Attaining the ROC was not an easy job,” said Keen Marozva, a geospatial scientist at ZINGSA.

“Being compliant as an institution means that ZINGSA has widened its net, adding on to vast experience in a variety of drone related operations. ZINGSA drone operations cover multispectral, RGB, thermal, LiDAR, aero-magnetics, and crop spraying.

“They complement other ground-based operations which use state of the art equipment in geophysical methods on mineral exploration (Induced Polarization (IP), Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) measurements), borehole siting, etc (drill rig, GD20, PQWT, etc) and applied remote sensing using spectroradiometers.

“As an Accountable Manager and my team, we make sure that every drone related operation is done to the expectation of the Law, the Pilots and the Client.”

That expectation has now been made easier with the ROC acquisition, Marozva added.

ZINGSA’s mandate is to promote the use of space to develop initiatives that promote advances in geospatial science and earth observation, space engineering, aerospace engineering, space science, satellite communication systems and global navigation satellite systems (GNSS).

Additionally, it focuses on space engineering and technology, developing and deploying satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for various applications. Enhancing communication systems and global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) within Zimbabwe is also a key part of their mission.

This is only the fourth ROC to be issued by the CAAZ, with the three others going to Drone Solutions Zimbabwe, Precision Aerial Zimbabwe and Afrostain Farmtech, which got their certificate at the beginning of the year.