Freefly Systems
US manufacturer of heavy-lift and industrial drones, cinema gimbals and high-speed cameras, built in-house in Woodinville, Washington, with Blue UAS-cleared configurations for government buyers.
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Freefly Systems designs and manufactures drones, camera stabilisation systems and high-speed cameras in Woodinville, Washington. It was founded in 2011 by Tabb Firchau, David Bloomfield, Hugh Bell and Megan Fogel, and made its name in cinema before the industrial and government market became the larger part of the business. It is a small company — publicly reported headcount is in the range of 70 to 80 — that machines and assembles its airframes, gimbals and controllers itself rather than sourcing them.
Product Line
Astro and Astro Max — the compact industrial platform, and the current centre of the business. Astro Max was introduced in February 2025 with roughly 3 kg payload capacity, an open payload interface for photogrammetry cameras, LiDAR and multispectral sensors, and a company-stated 39 minutes of flight time without a payload. It ships in NDAA-compliant and DIU Blue configurations.
Alta X and Alta X Gen2 — the heavy-lift quadcopter line. Alta X Gen2 combines the Alta X airframe with the flight controller and payload interfaces developed for Astro Max.
Ember and Wave — high-speed cameras for cinema and scientific imaging, sold as products in their own right rather than drone accessories.
MōVI Pro and MōVI XL — the handheld cinema gimbals that established the company. Still sold, but no longer where the product development is going.
Compliance and Government Position
Freefly’s government exposure runs through the Defense Innovation Unit’s Blue UAS list. The Astro was reaffirmed on the list in the 2025 Blue Refresh. The Alta X was not: Freefly says it was delisted and moved to the AUVSI Green UAS list, and attributes the change to DIU’s budget constraints and its shift of priority toward FPV aircraft rather than to anything about the aircraft. That is Freefly’s explanation of a decision it did not make, and it should be read as such. Existing Alta X operators had a one-year exception to policy running to 28 February 2026.
Business Position
Freefly is privately held. It has never disclosed revenue, and no significant venture round is on the public record — the business appears to have been funded from operations. Sales run through direct channels and a dealer network including Advexure, DSLRPros and XTI Aerospace’s Drone Nerds, which added the Alta X Gen2 in February 2026. Government sales are modest and mostly transactional; the Naval Research Laboratory noticed a sole-source purchase of an Alta X in March 2026.
Why It Matters
Freefly occupies the narrow band DJI does not: US-built, heavy-lift, open payload interfaces, and a compliance status government buyers can actually procure against. Its size is both the point and the problem. Owning manufacturing in Washington state gives it NDAA credibility that resellers of foreign airframes cannot claim, but it also means competing on unit cost against much larger volumes.
The Alta X’s removal from the Blue list shows the exposure: a company this dependent on one procurement listing is exposed to a policy decision it has no influence over.