>- The hardware does not matter much, no customer cares if you use a blimp, a drone, a satellite or other, so maybe don't make the hardware your core identity
I worked at one of those drone-in-a-box startups for a few years. In my experience, some power distribution/power line operators are VERY particular about what kind of hardware you are flying near or above their infra.
To be fair they only care if you don't show up with a credible insurance policy that makes sure they get compensated for technology failures. Which in the context of a transmission grid operator could be several million dollars per incident.
Obviously any company will want to avoid even a tiny risk of incurring several million dollars of costs in a few seconds, so it's fair to expect the liability be on the solution provider.
I worked at one of those drone-in-a-box startups for a few years. In my experience, some power distribution/power line operators are VERY particular about what kind of hardware you are flying near or above their infra.