As planned, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has launched its next wave of its beta Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) system, in the western north region of the United States. LAANC helps to support the integration of drones into the national airspace. LAANC allows drone operators to obtain real-time airspace authorizations from air traffic controllers, which greatly decreases the lag time associated with the manual airspace authorization process. LAANC uses airspace data provided through temporary flight restrictions, NOTAMs and facility maps that indicate the maximum altitude around airports where the FAA will authorize drone operations under Part 107 (the federal small UAS rule).
The next launch is set for June 21, 2018.