FCC Launches 'Drone Dominance' Proceeding to Overhaul Spectrum Access and Licensing for U.S. Drone Industry
The FCC seeks public comment on dedicated drone spectrum bands, streamlined experimental licensing, and new innovation zones as part of the Trump administration's push to replace banned foreign drones with domestic alternatives.
Overview
The Federal Communications Commission’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology released a public notice on April 1 seeking comment on sweeping regulatory changes designed to accelerate the production, deployment, and export of American-made drones. The proceeding, filed under GN Docket No. 26-74, covers spectrum allocation, experimental licensing reform, innovation zone expansion, and counter-drone regulatory barriers, with public comments due by May 1 and reply comments by May 18.
The notice implements directives from two executive orders issued on June 6, 2025: Executive Order 14307, titled “Unleashing American Drone Dominance,” and Executive Order 14305, titled “Restoring American Airspace Sovereignty.” Together, these orders frame domestic drone leadership as a national security imperative and direct federal agencies to remove barriers to industry growth.
Spectrum Reforms Under Review
The FCC’s notice identifies spectrum access as a central bottleneck for the drone industry. Most commercial drones currently rely on unlicensed bands at 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz, which face increasing interference from other devices, according to the public notice.
The agency is now evaluating more than a dozen frequency bands for potential drone use. These include the 5030-5091 MHz aeronautical band, where the FCC is exploring expedited dynamic frequency management to provide temporary access to 20 MHz of spectrum between 5040 and 5060 MHz. The agency is also considering the 450 MHz band for long-range drone links, the 24 GHz band for radar and detection capabilities, and the 960-1164 MHz aviation navigation band for broader unmanned aircraft operations, per the public notice.
The proceeding further asks whether the 3.5 GHz Citizens Broadband Radio Service band, which can technically support private LTE and 5G networks for drones but is currently restricted under existing regulations, should be opened for airborne use, according to the public notice.
Licensing and Innovation Zones
Beyond spectrum, the FCC acknowledges that its experimental licensing framework “was not designed with the scale, pace, and complexity of modern UAS in mind,” according to the public notice. The agency proposes creating a dedicated UAS experimental license category with more flexible terms and expedited renewals, a tiered licensing structure for academic, commercial prototype, and production-scale operations, and a blanket authorization framework for qualified developers operating within specified frequency bands and safety parameters.
The notice also proposes expanding drone innovation zones beyond academic settings. The existing AERPAW platform at North Carolina State University provides a testbed for 5G-enabled drone operations, and the FCC is considering new zones in sparsely populated regions with minimal interference risk, as well as waterway-based testbeds for maritime drone-ship interaction, per the public notice.
Since January 2025, the FCC has granted 227 experimental approvals for unmanned aircraft systems and eight approvals for counter-UAS technologies, representing a 68 percent increase in conventional experimental license approvals compared with the 2021-2024 period, according to the public notice.
Foreign Drone Restrictions Shape the Backdrop
The proceeding arrives roughly four months after the FCC added all foreign-produced drones and critical components to its Covered List on December 22, 2025, effectively barring new foreign drone models from receiving equipment authorization for import or sale in the United States. The action specifically named DJI and Autel Robotics, which together have dominated the U.S. commercial and hobbyist drone market.
A Pilot Institute survey of 8,000 certified commercial drone pilots found that approximately 43 percent believe the ban will have an “extremely negative” or “potentially business-ending impact” on their operations, as Scientific American reported. DJI alone holds an estimated 70 to 90 percent of the U.S. commercial, local-government, and hobbyist drone market, and the ban on critical components threatens the availability of batteries, controllers, and replacement parts, per Scientific American.
The FCC has since carved out limited exceptions. In January 2026, the agency exempted devices on the Defense Contract Management Agency’s Blue UAS Cleared List and components meeting Buy American standards, with those exemptions valid through January 1, 2027. On March 18, the FCC issued its first batch of conditional approvals for four foreign-made drone devices, according to the FCC.
What Comes Next
The public comment window closes May 1, with reply comments due May 18. The FCC is coordinating with the FAA and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to balance spectrum policy with aviation safety requirements.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who recently visited an Anduril Industries test site in Texas to observe drone and counter-drone systems, has described the domestic drone industry as “the tip of the spear” in building national capacity. The notice frames drone production, deployment, and exports as “critical pillars of national security, technological sovereignty, and global competitiveness,” according to the public notice.
Whether the proceeding results in dedicated licensed spectrum for drones or more modest incremental changes will depend on the comments the agency receives and the political will to reallocate bandwidth from existing users. For the nearly 500,000 certified commercial drone pilots in the United States, as Scientific American noted, the outcome will shape both the cost and the capability of the domestic equipment they are now required to adopt.