Now you can't even scale Mount Everest without a drone buzzing overhead

No chance of any peace, not even at 8,900 metres

Video Drone maker DJI has claimed a world first by flying one of its Mavic 3 drones around the peak of Mount Everest, capturing some pretty great footage in the process. 

The idea to fly a drone around the world's highest mountain was developed with the team from Chinese photography website and photographer organization 8KRAW, which took the Mavic 3 to the 8,849 metre (29,032 feet) top. 

Per the Mavic 3's specs, it's only able to fly up to 6,000 meters above sea level - quite a bit lower than Everest's peak. Additionally, the Mavic 3 is only rated to handle temperatures as low as -10°C (14°F), which Everest's peak regularly drops below. Additionally, the drone's max wind speed resistance is 12 meters per second, which Everest wind's regularly exceed.

DJI said the quadcopter had to be customized to tolerate Everest's harsh conditions, but didn't specify what it did, and hasn't responded to our emails asking such. At the end of the day, the modified Mavic 3 climbed as high as 9,232 meters (30,289 feet) when launched from the peak, footage from which was edited down into a three-minute video DJI published recently. 

DJI's Everest flight

According to DJI, it "developed a detailed flight plan that would allow their videographers to take the ultimate drone flight from the summit - capturing the stunning beauty of the mountain, and the surrounding views, as they've not been captured before."

Chinese-based DJI faced some trouble early in the Russian invasion of Ukraine when it was accused of providing drones to Russia's military, something the company denied before deciding to suspend business in Russia and Ukraine. It was the first major Chinese tech company to make such a move.

While plenty of US-based corporations have left Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine, DJI remains one of the few Chinese companies to halt its operations there, The Hill said in May. Xiaomi and Lenovo have both announced a reduction of shipments to Russia, it added.

The DoD added DJI to a blacklist of Chinese companies it said do business with the Chinese military last week, making the company ineligible for DoD contracts. The US Commerce Department has also sanctioned DJI, blocking US citizens from investing in the company in late 2021. ®