Proposed FAA Rule Would Kickstart New Economy For IDing Drones

Proposed FAA Rule Would Kickstart New Economy For IDing Drones

Wary of a future in which the skies are filled with unregistered, unidentifiable drones, the Federal Aviation Administration will soon publish a proposed rule to require manufacturers to put remote ID tags in all small unmanned aircraft systems.


On Tuesday, the FAA will publish its proposed rule for remote identification of UAS, starting the process for developing an entire ecosystem over the next three years around identifying drones in flight.


To date, nearly 1.5 million small drones—between 0.55 pounds and 55 pounds—have been registered with the FAA, along with some 155,000 UAS pilots. However, drone pilots currently cannot fly except in specific, restricted areas, mostly managed through partnerships with the FAA’s Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability, or LAANC. As the use of drones expands, the FAA wants to ensure air traffic controllers, law enforcement and the general public can easily identify the machines flying overhead.


“As a pilot, my eye is always on safety first,” FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said in a statement Thursday announcing the rule. “Safety is a joint responsibility between government, pilots, the drone community, the general public and many others who make our nation so creative and innovative.”


The rule would identify drones using three methods. The first is the “standard remote identification,” in which the drone broadcasts a unique ID through a radio signal that can be intercepted by air traffic control, law enforcement and even the general public. That ID would also be transmitted to a Remote ID UAS Service Supplier, or Remote ID USS—more on them later—over the internet.

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