How we check pilots, and how your money moves

Astral Pic books a licensed, insured drone pilot for a house, listing, roof or lot. Pick a package with a fixed price, give us the address and a window of days, and a Part 107 pilot based nearby accepts. You pay only after a pilot has taken the job, and the pilot is paid only after you approve the files. Your photos and video land on a private page that only you, your pilot and Astral Pic staff can open.

The three promises

Each one is enforced by how the site works, not by small print.

A person checked every pilot.
Every pilot showed us a current FAA Part 107 certificate, the FAA registration label on their drone and a liability insurance certificate of at least $1 million before they could accept a job. A person checked each one.
You pay after a pilot accepts.
You pay only after a pilot accepts your job. Stripe handles your card. We never see or store the number.
Your pilot is paid after you approve.
Your pilot is paid only after you approve the files, or 48 hours after delivery if you say nothing. Your files sit on a private page that only you, your pilot and Astral Pic staff can open.

What a person checks before a pilot can accept a job

Every pilot uploads their certificate, recency proof, insurance certificate and aircraft label photo, and ticks eight written statements. A person at Astral Pic reads each document, records the dates, and only then marks the pilot verified. Until that happens the pilot cannot see or accept any job.

The dates we record appear on the pilot's card in your dashboard, for example "Part 107 checked Oct 2026" and "Insured to $1M through Jun 2027".

FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate
A photo of the certificate, front and back. We read the name on it and look that name up in the FAA Airmen Inquiry, the public register of certificate holders.
Recency within 24 calendar months
The FAA recurrent training certificate or the initial knowledge test report. We work out the month it runs out and the pilot cannot accept jobs after that until they show a new one.
Liability insurance of at least $1,000,000
A certificate of insurance naming the carrier, the limit and the expiry date. The policy is the pilot's own. When it expires, the pilot is blocked from accepting jobs until they show a current one.
The FAA registration label on the aircraft
A photo of the label on the airframe, plus the registration number and how the drone broadcasts Remote ID. A drone with no Remote ID cannot be used for Astral Pic jobs.
Eight written statements and the pilot agreement
Among them: they will personally be the remote pilot in command, they will get airspace authorization before they fly, they will keep the camera on your property and off interiors and identifiable people, and they will only fly over people with a compliant aircraft or an FAA waiver. Read the pilot agreement.

What we do not check, and do not do

Saying this plainly matters more than a longer list of promises.

We do not run criminal record checks. We check flying credentials, insurance and the aircraft, not a person's history.
We do not confirm certificates with the FAA directly. The FAA does not publish certificate numbers. We check the certificate image and that the name appears in the public FAA Airmen Inquiry.
We do not watch anyone fly before verifying them. The pilot's record on Astral Pic builds from completed jobs and customer reviews, which you can see on their card once they have some.
We do not insure flights. Each pilot carries their own liability policy, and a claim goes to their insurer. Astral Pic is a booking venue, not the operator of the flight.
We do not decide whether a flight is legal at your address. The pilot in command does. We flag likely controlled airspace from a list of nearby airports, and the pilot gets FAA authorization and checks the weather and any temporary flight restriction before flying. They may call it off, and you pay nothing extra when they do.
We do not store your card number. Stripe handles the payment page. We keep only the payment session reference and its status.

How your money moves

Six steps, in order. The pilot cannot fly before step 3 is done, and cannot be paid before step 5.

How payment works right now: after a pilot accepts, you pay through a Stripe payment page. A person at Astral Pic confirms the payment, usually within a few hours. Your pilot is told when it is confirmed.

You book. Nothing is charged.
You pick a package and give the address and a window. If no pilot accepts by the end of your window, you were never charged.
A verified pilot accepts your job.
Your dashboard shows their first name, their checked credentials and, once accepted, their phone number. You get a Stripe payment page for the exact package price.
You pay, and a person confirms it.
Stripe handles your card. A person at Astral Pic matches the payment to your job, usually within a few hours, and tells your pilot. The pilot flies only after that.
The files land on your private page.
Within 48 hours of the flight. Only you, your pilot and Astral Pic staff can open the page.
You approve, or ask for one round of changes.
You have 48 hours after delivery. If you say nothing, your pilot or a person at Astral Pic can approve the delivery on your behalf once that time has passed.
Your pilot is paid.
Within 7 days of approval. Astral Pic keeps a 20% platform fee, printed next to every price on the pricing page.

If you cancel. Free until 5 pm the day before your window starts. After that, half of your pilot's payout is kept and paid to the pilot; inside 4 hours of your window, or if the pilot cannot get access, the full payout is kept and paid to the pilot. Astral Pic keeps nothing from a cancellation. Refunds reach your card in 5 to 10 business days. The full cancellation and weather policy.

Who can see your files, and who owns them

Your delivery is private by default and stays that way unless you say otherwise.

Only you, your pilot and Astral Pic staff can open the delivery page. The pilot sees your address, access notes, first name and phone only after accepting the job. You see the pilot's first name, last initial, photo, checked credentials and phone after they accept. Nobody else sees either.
Do not forward delivery links. Until signed links arrive, a file link carries a long-lived access token, so anyone holding the link can open that file.
The pilot owns the copyright. You get a broad license. Once payment is confirmed and the delivery is approved, you may use, copy, edit and publish the files to market, sell, lease, finance, insure, inspect, repair, build or document the property, and share them with agents, brokers, MLS services, contractors and insurers for it. The pilot may show the work in a portfolio without the address. The footage license in full.
We show a delivery as a sample only if you tick the box. There is an unticked consent checkbox at approval. Leave it alone and your files never appear on this site.
What we collect and keep is written out in the privacy policy: analytics, the Stripe payment reference, the job address, day-of phone numbers and pilot documents.

Quoted jobs work the same way

Construction progress, events and weddings, commercial roofs and anything off the menu are quoted rather than fixed-price. The checks and the money flow do not change.

Only verified pilots can see your request and name a price. You see each pilot's payout and your price together before you accept, with the 20% platform fee already inside your number. After you accept, we email a Stripe invoice; a person confirms the payment, the pilot flies, the files land on your private page, and you approve them before the pilot is paid. How quotes are priced.

What is true right now

Astral Pic is new. These are the parts a person still does by hand, and the parts that are not built yet.

Now recruiting founding pilots. The number of verified pilots is shown live on the home page and the Dallas-Fort Worth page, including when it is zero. You can book before a pilot is listed; you pay nothing unless one accepts within your window.
Payments are confirmed by a person, usually within a few hours, and payouts are sent by a person within 7 days of approval.
Nothing is approved on a timer. If you do not approve a delivery or ask for changes within 48 hours, your pilot or a person at Astral Pic can approve it on your behalf.
Pilots see new jobs while their dashboard is open. Email and text alerts are coming. Give a window of a few days, and three days or more where airspace is controlled.
Houston, Atlanta, Phoenix, Tampa and Orlando are next. Join the list on a city page and we will tell you when pilots are live.

Book a pilot See prices

The documents behind this page: customer terms, pilot agreement and privacy policy. Questions go to help@astralpic.com.