In the US, to ensure the safety of larger aircraft carrying pilots and passengers, unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, can’t be flown higher than 122m so they don’t enter national airspace. Regulations in Russia, however, aren’t as strict, enabling drone pilot Denis Koryakin to fly his homebuilt, 1kg craft to a staggering height of over 10,050m.
For comparison, a 747 has a maximum ceiling of just over 13,716m, but most airliners will cruise at around the same altitude this tiny drone managed to reach. As amazing as the view is from 10,058m, it’s certainly a dangerous stunt and will get you in heaps of trouble in the US if you get caught.
But Koryakin’s flight took place near the city of Strejevoï, in Siberia, which is notoriously frigid and sparsely populated. Russia also doesn’t appear to have any regulations on how high a drone can be flown, but hopefully stunts like this don’t become too commonplace.