Future of Drones Takes Center Stage in Latest ‘Time’ Cover Story

The magazine used nearly 1,000 drones flying in formation to create its iconic cover frame.

A border patrol drone flies past the moon over Turkey-Iraq border in Semdinli district of Hakkari,Turkey on May 21, 2018. (Photo by Ozkan Bilgin/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
A border patrol drone flies past the moon over Turkey-Iraq border in Semdinli district of Hakkari,Turkey on May 21, 2018. (Photo by Ozkan Bilgin/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
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On the latest cover of TIME, 958 multi-colored drones rose above the ground in California to recreate the magazine’s name and famous red border. The cover art stunt underscores the larger point of the issue’s big story: drones will soon play a ubiquitous part in our lives.

While government agencies and first responders are learning to use drones for disaster-management, the civilian drone market is rapidly growing. Since the FAA loosened its standards for commercial drone use, the number of people certified to fly drones professionally in the US has jumped to 122,000.

As Amazon races to deliver packages with drones and Facebook attempts to use drones to bring the Internet to previously-unconnected places, some firms are dreaming up even more ambitious goals, like helicopter-size drone taxis.

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