HILLSBORO, N.D., Sha'ban 14, 1437, May 21, 2016, SPA -- A high-flying drone that will be used to test precision agriculture methods made its inaugural flight in North Dakota. The Israeli-manufactured Hermes 450 aircraft took off from the Hillsboro airport Friday to start a summer-long project that will take pictures of farmland in the fertile Red River Valley. The test is meant to show whether the larger drone is more efficient to capture imagery of agricultural land than satellites or smaller unmanned aircraft, according to AP. North Dakota is believed to be the only state qualified to fly the aircraft because it has clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly drones at higher altitudes. The 20-foot drone will take pictures as high as 8,000 feet. The FAA in 2013 selected North Dakota as one of six drone test sites in the U.S. -- SPA 03:39 LOCAL TIME 00:39 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w