In November 2013, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) published its “roadmap” for integrating drones (or, if you prefer the government’s term, "unmanned aircraft systems") into American skies. Part of that document included selecting six drone “research and test” sites across the country. On Monday, the FAA announced its nationwide picks for the six site operators.

In selecting the six test site operators, the FAA considered geography, climate, location of ground infrastructure, research needs, airspace use, safety, aviation experience, and risk. In totality, these six test applications achieve cross-country geographic and climatic diversity and help the FAA meet its UAS research needs.

As the FAA wrote:

The drone testing sites will be administered by the University of Alaska, the state of Nevada, Griffiss International Airport in upstate New York, the state of North Dakota, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (better known as Virginia Tech).

The test ranges are due to end by February 2017, by which time new rules around drone usage should be finalized.