In contrast to their use in warfare and surveillance, there is growing interest in the potential of “drones for good” to deliver societal benefits, for example by delivering medical products and other essential goods. Yet development of medical and commercial delivery has been limited globally by restrictive regulation to protect airspace safety and security. In this paper we examine how certain African countries have become testbeds for new forms of drone infrastructure and regulation, driven by the overlapping interests of governments, drone operators, and international development agencies. In particular we explore the factors that have led to the development of an advanced medical delivery network in Rwanda and contrast that with the closing down of airspace for drones in Tanzania. The paper makes a distinctive contribution to research on the ongoing constitution of dronespace as a sphere of commercial and governmental activity. Rwanda’s drone delivery system is seen as the forerunner for the wider enclosure and parcelling up of the lower atmosphere into designated drone corridors that limit the democratic and disruptive potential of drone activity in line with prevailing logics of airspace regulation.

中文翻译：

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为无人机腾出空间：坦桑尼亚和卢旺达有争议的空域重新管制

与它们在战争和监视中的使用相比，人们对“永远的无人机”提供社会效益的潜力越来越感兴趣，例如通过提供医疗产品和其他必需品。然而，全球医疗和商业交付的发展受到限制性法规的限制，以保护空域安全和安保。在本文中，我们研究了在政府、无人机运营商和国际开发机构利益重叠的驱动下，某些非洲国家如何成为新型无人机基础设施和监管的试验台。我们特别探讨了导致卢旺达发展先进医疗服务网络的因素，并将其与坦桑尼亚关闭无人机空域进行对比。该论文对无人机空间作为商业和政府活动领域的持续构成的研究做出了独特的贡献。卢旺达的无人机投送系统被视为更广泛的围场和将低层大气分割成指定的无人机走廊的先驱，这些走廊根据空域监管的普遍逻辑限制了无人机活动的民主和破坏性潜力。