The materials in this section is adopted from the FAA website's on Data Exchange and LAANC.
The FAA UAS Data Exchange is an innovative, collaborative approach between government and private industry facilitating the sharing of airspace data between the two parties. Under the FAA UAS Data Exchange umbrella, the agency will support multiple partnerships, the first of which is the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability.
What is LAANC?
LAANC, Figure 6.1, is the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability, a collaboration between FAA and Industry. It directly supports UAS integration into the airspace. It provides access to controlled airspace near airports through near real-time processing of airspace authorizations below approved altitudes in controlled airspace.
Figure 6.1 LAANC illustrated
There is a graphic of a person holding a phone and a drone on the far left, labeled "Drone Users". In the middle, there is a phone labeled "UAS Service Suppliers", connected to two blue boxes by a dotted line. The top (larger) box is labeled "FAA Airspace Data" and includes the following: "TFRs", "NOTAMs", and "Facility Maps". Below that box, there is a smaller one that reads "FAA's UAS: Data Exchange". On the far right, there is a graphic of a plane and an air traffic control tower, labeled "FAA Air Traffic".
How does it work?
LAANC automates the application and approval process for airspace authorizations. Through automated applications developed by an FAA Approved UAS Service Suppliers (USS) pilots apply for an airspace authorization. Requests are checked against multiple airspace data sources in the FAA UAS Data Exchange such as temporary flight restrictions, NOTAMS and the UAS Facility Maps. If approved, pilots receive update from the FAA site.
Where can I fly under LAANC?
LAANC is available at nearly 400 air traffic facilities covering approximately 600 airports. If you want to fly in controlled airspace near airports not offering LAANC, you can use the manual process to apply for an authorization.
The capability is in beta throughout 2018, and seeks to test the capability nationwide; the results will inform future expansions of the capability.
After LAANC, FAA Permits UAS Flying Near Airports
In a surprise move during October 2018, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted permission for certain UAS manufacturers to operate in a controlled airspace. Such move by the FAA was possible after the FAA rolled out its “Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC)” initiative. DJI is among the nine companies that the FAA approval as a UAS Service Supplier capable of offering LAANC services, allowing DJI to offer its customers near-real-time authorization to fly in controlled airspace near airports. That occurred after the FAA performed a rigorous test and validation of DJI’s technology capabilities to support LAANC services.
The article published by Engadget states “The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has given nine companies permission to fly in controlled airspace, such as airports, as part of its Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) initiative. One of those nine companies is DJI, along with Aeronyde, Airbus, AiRXOS, Altitude Angel, Converge, KittyHawk, UASidekick and Unifly. It doesn't mean operators can fly those brands' drones over airports anytime they want, though -- it only means that professional drone pilots can now get authorization to enter controlled airspace in near-real time instead of waiting for months. A pilot that's going to use a drone to conduct an inspection, capture photos and videos or herd birds away from airports, for instance, can now send their applications to fly in controlled airspace to LAANC. The program then processes their applications in near-real time, designating the locations within that airspace they can use, along with the altitudes they can fly in. LAANC makes sure the drones won't be able to go anywhere near planes, in case the location is an airport, and will inform the FAA Air Traffic of the permissions it granted.
The article continued to state that:
Before LAANC, using drones for productive work near many airports required detailed applications and up to months of waiting, even when the benefits were clear and safety was prioritized," DJI Program Manager Brandon Montellato explained. "Now, LAANC allows easy drone use in more than 2,000 square miles near airports, including many populated areas that can benefit tremendously from drone operations."
UAS Traffic Management
UAS Traffic Management (UTM)
Another major effort by the FAA to understand and manage the integration of UAS into NAS, is the UAS Traffic Management initiative that lead by NASA. UTM is a a research platform to manage large numbers of drones flying at low altitude along with other airspace users. The following few sections about UTM are adopted from NASA website.
What is Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management?
Ever wonder what the skies will look like in the next five to 10 years? Can you imagine stepping onto your balcony on a sunny day, seeing drones buzzing around? They could be delivering food and goods to doorsteps, hovering around backyards for family fun or over highways for traffic monitoring. In 2021, more than 873,000 unmanned aircraft systems, called UAS, but commonly referred to as drones, are registered to fly in the United States – and their numbers are increasing quickly. Many have questions about how such a big change to the airspace will affect our lives and safety.
NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley set out to create a research platform that will help manage large numbers of drones flying at low altitude along with other airspace users. Known as UAS Traffic Management, or UTM, the goal is to create a system that can integrate drones safely and efficiently into air traffic that is already flying in low-altitude airspace. That way, package delivery and fun flights won’t interfere with helicopters, airplanes, nearby airports or even safety drones being flown by first responders helping to save lives.
The system is a bit different than the air traffic control system used by the Federal Aviation Administration for today’s commercial airplanes. UTM is based on digital sharing of each user's planned flight details. Each user will have the same situational awareness of the airspace, unlike what happens in today’s air traffic control. The multi-year UTM project continued NASA’s long-standing relationship with the FAA. Throughout the collaboration, Ames has provided research, development and testing to the agency, which is being put to use in the real world. NASA led the UTM project along with more than 100 partners across various industries, academia and government agencies committed to researching and developing this platform.
How did the research work?
UTM research was broken down into four phases called TCLs, technical capability levels, each increasing in complexity and with specific technical goals that helped demonstrate the system as the research progressed.
TCL1: Completed in August 2015 and serving as the starting point of the platform, researchers conducted field tests addressing how drones can be used in agriculture, firefighting and infrastructure monitoring. The researchers also worked to incorporate different technologies to help with flying the drones safely such as scheduling and geofencing, which restricts the flight to an assigned area.
TCL2: Completed in October 2016 and focused on monitoring drones that are flown in sparsely populated areas where an operator can't actually see the drones they're flying. Researchers tested technologies for on-the-fly adjustment of areas that drones can be flown in and clearing airspace due to search-and-rescue or for loss of communications with a small aircraft.
TCL3: Conducted during spring 2018, this level focused on creating and testing technologies that will help keep drones safely spaced out and flying in their designated zones. The technology allows the UAS to detect and avoid other drones over moderately populated areas.
TCL4: From May through August 2019, the final level demonstrated how the UTM system can integrate drones into urban areas. Along with a larger population, city landscapes present their own challenges: more obstacles to avoid, specific weather and wind conditions, reduced lines of sight, reduced ability to communicate by radio and fewer safe landing locations. TCL4 tested new ways to address these hurdles using the UTM system and technologies onboard the drones and on the ground. These included incorporating more localized weather predictions into flight planning, using cell phone networks to enhance drone traffic communications and relying on cameras, radar and other ways of “seeing” to ensure drones can maneuver around buildings and land when needed – all while communicating with other drones and users of the UTM system.
The UTM team invented a totally new way to handle the airspace: a style of air traffic management where multiple parties, from government to commercial industry, work together to provide services. UTM’s research results were transferred incrementally to the FAA, which continues testing and, with industry partners, is implementing the system. By the time the project officially wrapped up in May 2021, several efforts had emerged to push this line of research into other realms, including managing traffic for the flying taxis envisioned for our cities and flights of jets and even balloons at very high altitudes not currently covered by traditional air traffic management.
This partnership between research and regulation agencies, along with the input of thousands of experts and users will set the stage for the future of a well-connected sky. Drones will offer many benefits by performing jobs too dangerous, dirty or dull for humans to do, and NASA is helping navigate toward that future.