The FAA collaborates internally and maintains extensive partnerships across government, industry, and academia to develop integrated research plans that support the development of regulations, policies, procedures, guidance, and standards for drone operations. Research activities such as flight tests, modeling and simulation, technology evaluations, risk assessments, and data gathering and analysis provide the FAA with critical information in areas such as Detect and Avoid, UAS Communications, Human Factors, System Safety, and Certification, all of which enable the Agency to make informed decisions on safe drone integration. Read more about this work and the critical partnerships that advance drone research and development activities below.

UAS Test Site Program

UAS Test Sites support drone integration by providing an avenue for the drone industry and stakeholder community to conduct more advanced drone research and operational concept validation.

UAS Broad Agency Announcement Program

The FAA UAS Broad Agency Announcement Program provides funding opportunities to Qualified Commercial Entities (QCEs) partnered with an FAA-designated UAS Test Site.