Safety has been one of the main questions when discussing the mass adoption of drones, and two major organizations are taking steps to enhance that safety.

NASA and the FAA have concluded tests on the first demonstration of the air traffic control system for drones that NASA has been developing. The successful three-hour test featured 24 drones that took flight from six different locations throughout the U.S.

Multiple drone operators took part in the test with different models and software. These operators input their flight plans into NASA’s traffic management platform called Unmanned Aircraft Systems. This platform then reviewed the plans, approved or rejected them after analyzing for potential conflicts, and then told the operators about any restrictions.

NASA announced that the tests went smoothly with no errors, and the system was able to track 22 drones at once.

The tests occurred in remote locations where the drones would likely not run into any other aircraft. And the drones complied with FAA regulations by staying within sight of their pilots at all times.

The completion of the test was the first certification level for NASA’s system, and NASA now plans to slowly test the platform under more complex and unpredictable conditions. The fourth and final testing level would be in heavily populated urban areas.

If successful on the final level, then the system could create new opportunities for commercial drone uses that require flight in urban areas. Amazon and Google, for example, are planning on delivering consumer packages by drone, but the FAA has been slow to allow this. NASA’s system, however, could make regulators more open to the idea of many drones flying overhead in major cities.

Drones turned the corner in 2015 to become a popular consumer device, while a framework for regulation that legitimizes drones in the US began to take shape. Technological and regulatory barriers still exist to further drone adoption.

Drone manufacturers and software providers are quickly developing technologies like geo-fencing and collision avoidance that will make flying drones safer. The accelerating pace of drone adoption is also pushing governments to create new regulations that balance safety and innovation.

Safer technology and better regulation will open up new applications for drones in the commercial sector, including drone delivery programs like Amazon’s Prime Air and Google’s Project Wing initiatives.

Jonathan Camhi, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider’s premium research service, has compiled a detailed drones report that forecasts sales revenues for consumer, enterprise, and military drones. It also projects the growth of drone shipments for consumers and enterprises.

The report details several of world’s major drone suppliers and examines trends in drone adoption among several leading industries. Finally, it examines the regulatory landscape in several markets and explains how technologies like obstacle avoidance and drone-to-drone communications will impact drone adoption.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

• We project revenues from drones sales to top $12 billion in 2021, up from just over $8 billion last year.
• Shipments of consumer drones will more than quadruple over the next five years, fueled by increasing price competition and new technologies that make flying drones easier for beginners.
• Growth in the enterprise sector will outpace the consumer sector in both shipments and revenues as regulations open up new use cases in the US and EU, the two biggest potential markets for enterprise drones.
• Technologies like geo-fencing and collision avoidance will make flying drones safer and make regulators feel more comfortable with larger numbers of drones taking to the skies.
• Right now FAA regulations have limited commercial drones to a select few industries and applications like aerial surveying in the agriculture, mining, and oil and gas sectors.
• The military sector will continue to lead all other sectors in drone spending during our forecast period thanks to the high cost of military drones and the growing number of countries seeking to acquire them.