Using technology licensed by NASA, Oklahoma State University and Vigilant Aerospace are developing a system that allows drones to effectively “talk” to each other.

In the process, they’re addressing FAA safety concerns and opening the door for the next big steps in the future of commercial drone delivery.

The company holds an exclusive licensing agreement with NASA, with which it has created its FlightHorizon software, a detect-and-avoid system that collects data from sensors to create both a picture of nearby air traffic and avoidance alerts for drone pilots or autopilots.

OSU’s Unmanned System Research Institute’s Dane Johnson, the lead research and development engineer on the project, said detect-and-avoid systems will be absolutely necessary to any beyond-visual-line-of-sight authorizations for unmanned aircraft.