U.S. takes a new step toward commercial drones

(CNN) -- Not there yet, but the future of drone flight in the United States took another important step on Monday.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) selected six research sites to help it test and map out the best way to safely bring unmanned aircraft into the heavily used U.S. airspace.

FAA Administrator Michael Heurta said the facilities, strategically located, will work with the agency to develop standardized procedures and regulations -- elements that govern all areas of aviation.

"With these sites, what we have is the platform to conduct broad based research considering a wide variety of different factors, and we'll see where the research takes us as we introduce these into the national airspace system," Huerta told reporters.

The six sites are: the University of Alaska, the state of Nevada, Griffiss International Airport in Rome, New York, the North Dakota Department of Commerce, Texas A&M University -- Corpus Christi, and Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech's research will also include a collaboration with Rutgers University in New Jersey.