FCC Seeks Comment On Radio Spectrum Usage By Unmanned Aircraft Systems

The Federal Communications Commission recently released two public notices requesting comment about the potential for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to use certain radio spectrum bands. The public notices address petitions seeking changes to the FCC's rules to provide additional capacity and reliability for UAS communications, which primarily have relied on unlicensed spectrum.

Use of 5 GHz band

The first public notice seeks to refresh the record on a petition for rulemaking  filed by the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) in 2018 asking the FCC to begin the process of adopting rules to allow UAS to use 5 GHz spectrum (5030 – 5091 MHz) for control and non-payload communications links. The FCC first sought comment on the AIA petition in 2018, but now recognizes that the original comments do not account for developments in the UAS industry since that time. The public notice poses new questions, including: