Johnathan Smeh has had quite the journey throughout his nine years in the commercial drone industry, but drones weren’t initially on the radar when he was pursuing a career in geography, GIS, and manned aircraft.

In this interview, Johnathan talks through first discovering the drone industry, its evolving technology, and how it’s shaped both his current work and what he hopes to work on in the future (hint: it’s out of this world!). He also discusses unique piloting stories from the field that required both creativity and ingenuity to ensure mission success.