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DJI Completes World’s First Drone Delivery Tests on Mount Everest

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SHENZHEN, China, June 4, 2024 /CNW/ — DJI has teamed up with Nepalese drone service company Airlift, video production company 8KRAW, and Nepalese certified mountain guide Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, to fly the world’s first successful delivery drone trials on Mount Everest (Mount Qomolangma). Completed in April, this historic milestone in aviation highlights the impressive capabilities of DJI FlyCart 30, which can carry 15kg payloads even in the extreme altitude and environmental conditions of Mount Everest. During the tests, three oxygen bottles and 1.5kg of other supplies were flown from Everest Base Camp to Camp 1 (5,300-6,000m ASL). On the return trip trash was carried back down.

“From the end of April, our team embarked on a groundbreaking endeavor to help make cleanup efforts on Everest safer and more efficient,” said Christina Zhang, Senior Corporate Strategy Director at DJI. “We are thrilled to share that our DJI FlyCart 30 was up to the task. The ability to safely transport equipment, supplies, and waste by drone has the potential to revolutionize Everest mountaineering logistics, facilitate trash cleanup efforts, and improve safety for all involved.”

A Historic Achievement in Aviation

For the first time, drones have successfully completed the round-trip transportation of equipment and trash between Everest Base Camp and Camp 1. These camps are separated by the Khumbu Icefall, one of the most perilous stages of the ascent. While helicopters can theoretically make the same journey, they are rarely used due to the significant dangers and costs.

Before undertaking delivery flights, DJI engineers considered the extreme environmental challenges of Everest, including temperatures ranging between -15° to 5°C, wind speeds up to 15m/s, and high altitudes over 6,000m ASL. Rigorous tests of DJI FlyCart 30 were then conducted, including unloaded hover, wind resistance, low-temperature, and weight capacity tests with successively heavier payloads.

Delivering Safer Mountain Operations 

Traditionally, the responsibility of transporting supplies and clearing trash on Everest has fallen on the shoulders of local Sherpa guides who may need to cross the icefall over 30 times in a season to transport supplies such as oxygen bottles, gas canisters, tents, food, and ropes.

“We need to spend 6-8 hours each day walking through this icefall,” said Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, Imagine Nepal mountain guide. “Last year I lost three Sherpas. If we’re not lucky, if our time is not right, we lose our life there.”

The hazardous climb across the Khumbu Icefall typically happens at night when temperatures are lowest and the ice is most stable. An unmodified drone can carry 15kg between camps in 12 minutes for a round trip, day or night. DJI’s delivery drones aim to ease the burden on Sherpas, who repeatedly risk their lives navigating the treacherous Khumbu Icefall.

Mount Everest Trash Cleanup

Each climber is estimated to leave 8kg of trash behind on Everest and, despite cleanup efforts, an estimated tonnes of waste remains on its slopes. If drone technology can ease this burden on cleanup crews, DJI is eager to help. DJI FlyCart 30 can efficiently transport garbage and human waste down the mountain, reducing the volume of trips Sherpas must make across the Khumbu Icefall.

Changing the Game- The Future of Drone Delivery

The climbing season of Everest is restricted to April and May, and further activities and drone testing are restricted for the rest of the year due to adverse weather. However, because of recent successful trials, the Nepalese government contracted a local drone service company to establish drone delivery operations on the southern slope of Everest starting on May 22.

The deployment of delivery drones in high-altitude regions not only promises to enhance safety and efficiency in these challenging environments but also highlights the importance of environmental conservation and sustainable practices within the mountaineering industry.

Launched globally in January 2024, DJI FlyCart 30 provides practical transportation solutions tailored to the unique needs and challenges of local users. It has been deployed to help plant saplings in steep hillside environments and line pulling in Japan, to transform solar PV installation in Mexico, to aid mountain fire rescue efforts in Norway, and to improve scientific research operations in Antarctica.

 

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SOURCE DJI

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Chelsea FC announces multi-year sleeve partnership with Sokin, the business payments and FX platform

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Chelsea FC name fast-growing fintech platform as Principal Partner

LONDON, Oct. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Chelsea Football Club has today announced a multi-year partnership with Sokin, the embedded finance and payments company used by businesses worldwide. Sokin will be named a Principal Partner and Official Business Payments and FX Partner of Chelsea FC and Chelsea FC Women.

As a Principal Partner, Sokin will be represented on the sleeves of the Chelsea FC men’s, women’s and academy home, away, and third kits from the 2026/27 season.

The partnership brings together two ambitious London-headquartered organisations with worldwide reach – a club with millions of fans across the world and a fintech platform through which businesses move more than $11 billion a year. A club of Chelsea’s scale works in many currencies every day, with partners, competitions and supporters around the world, and needs a financial partner built to handle that.

Sokin gives finance teams business payments, multi-currency accounts, foreign exchange, checkout and treasury in one place, so they spend less time juggling banks and providers and keep more of what they move.

As Official Business Payments and FX Partner, Sokin will simplify how Chelsea FC sends, receives and manages money in the currencies the club operates in.

The Sokin logo will feature on the sleeve of the Chelsea shirt for the first time [when the men’s team host Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge on Saturday 24th October.]

Jason Gannon, President at Chelsea FC said:

“At Chelsea, we seek to partner with organisations that share our ambition and innovative mindset. Sokin’s expertise in business payments, and their focus on making both simpler for the businesses they serve, makes them a natural fit for the Club. We are pleased to welcome Sokin to the Chelsea family and look forward to working together in the years ahead.”

Vroon Modgill, CEO and founder at Sokin said:

“Chelsea plays on the biggest stage in world football, and its business runs in dozens of currencies. Sokin was built for that with regulated, multi-currency payments and foreign exchange for organisations that operate internationally. We’re proud to be the platform behind the business payments and FX of one of the most iconic teams in football. Sokin’s platform serves businesses in more than 170 countries. We’re thrilled to be partners for the season ahead. An organisation as sophisticated as Chelsea doesn’t leave its finances to chance.”

About Sokin

Sokin is the financial layer global business runs on. Businesses can transact, convert and hold money in 70+ currencies across 170+ countries. Some businesses use Sokin to manage global finance in-house. Others build it into their products to power financial experiences for their customers. Businesses move more than $9 billion a year on licenses Sokin holds in 36+ countries and infrastructure Sokin owns. Founded in 2019, Sokin has raised over $100 million from investors including Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital and Prysm Capital.

About Chelsea Football Club

Chelsea Football Club is one of the biggest, most successful football clubs globally and our men’s team are reigning world champions, having won the four-yearly FIFA Club World Cup in 2025. Our women’s team, Chelsea Women, are also multiple trophy winners.

Founded in 1905, Chelsea is London’s most central football club, based at the iconic 40,000-capacity Stamford Bridge stadium. Nicknamed the Blues, the club lifted the Champions League for the first time in 2012 and domestically has won the Premier League five times, the FA Cup eight times, the Football League Cup five times and the Football League Championship once, in 1955.

The Chelsea Women’s team have enjoyed a huge amount of success and in 2025 won the FA Women’s Super League for a sixth consecutive year and the eighth time overall. The Women’s FA Cup has been won on six occasions. We have also captured the FA Women’s League Cup four times as well as reaching the UEFA Women’s Champions League final in 2021. In two seasons, 2020/21 and 2024/25, a domestic treble of trophies was secured.

The Chelsea Foundation boasts one of the most extensive community initiatives in sport, helping to improve the lives of children and young people all over the world.

Media Contacts:

Taina Biggs
taina.biggs@sokin.com 

Nerissa Chesterfield
nerissa.chesterfield@chelseafc.com 

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Amy Johnson Appointed President of GDIT

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RESTON, Va., Oct. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) announced today that Amy Johnson has been appointed as president of GDIT, effective November 3.

Johnson is a 27-year veteran of General Dynamics Mission Systems, where she held increasingly senior roles in engineering, engineering management and business leadership across cybersecurity, defense electronics, space and intelligence systems, most recently as vice president and general manager for Space, Cyber and Intelligence. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science and computer systems engineering. 

“Amy has a proven track record of leading teams to solve complex and highly technical challenges for our customers,” said Phebe Novakovic, CEO of General Dynamics. “I am confident that her dynamic leadership, operational rigor and deep commitment to our values and culture will deliver value to our customers, employees and shareholders.”

GDIT delivers digital modernization, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and software development solutions to the U.S. federal government, defense, intelligence agencies and other customers. It is a business unit of General Dynamics, a global aerospace and defense company that offers a broad portfolio of products and services in business aviation; ship construction and repair; land combat vehicles, weapons systems and munitions; and technology products and services. General Dynamics employs more than 120,000 people worldwide and generated $52.6 billion in revenue in 2025. More information is available at gd.com.

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Yazan Al Homsi Invests US$500,000 in Toronto Drone Maker Arcanus Aerial Systems

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Private investment comes as Arcanus builds out Canadian manufacturing capacity for autonomous aerial systems

DUBAI, UAE, Oct. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Yazan Al Homsi, a UAE-based investor and managing partner of Catalyst Communications DMCC, has invested US$500,000 in Arcanus Aerial Systems Inc., a Toronto-headquartered developer and manufacturer of unmanned aerial systems for defence, public safety and critical infrastructure customers. Al Homsi is an investor only and holds no operational, advisory or board role with the company. Other terms were not disclosed.

Arcanus is a Canadian-controlled company. It currently lists more than 15 platforms across heavy-lift, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), cargo, strike and counter-drone missions. According to the company, its published line-up includes:

AB 516e: a long-endurance vertical take-off fixed-wing aircraft rated for three hours of flight.AE 401: a counter-drone interceptor with a top speed of 300 km/h.AC 5250: a cargo platform with a 250 kg payload and a range of more than 2,300 km.

Alongside defence, Arcanus markets its systems for wildfire detection, search and rescue, Arctic sovereignty, border and maritime patrol, and pipeline and power line monitoring.

The company has spent 2026 assembling its domestic production base. In April, Arcanus signed a binding term sheet with Portugal-based Beyond Vision, granting it rights to manufacture, commercialize and support Beyond Vision’s unmanned aerial systems in Canada.

In June, Arcanus announced a five-year agreement appointing FeralX Systems Inc. as a non-exclusive Canadian contract manufacturer for several of its platforms.

“Canada has the engineering talent to build these systems at home, and recent years have shown how much depends on having that capacity domestically,” said Yazan Al Homsi. “What stood out to me about Arcanus was the manufacturing groundwork already in place: licensing, a production partner, and a range of aircraft that serves wildfire crews and search-and-rescue teams alongside defence customers.”

About Yazan Al Homsi

Yazan Al Homsi is a UAE-based investor and managing partner of Catalyst Communications DMCC, which he founded in Dubai in 2018. He was previously based in Vancouver, where he founded Founders Round Capital in 2017 and built a track record of investments in early-stage and small-cap companies. He earned a finance degree from McGill University in 2004 and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. Before turning to investing, he spent more than a decade with PricewaterhouseCoopers in the Middle East, rising to director and focusing on transaction due diligence and valuation.

Media Contact
Catalyst Communications DMCC
catalyst-wire@protonmail.com

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