Airspace

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Oct 9

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Two climbers in harnesses sit at the very top of a 2,000-foot broadcast tower above flat farmland, photographed from a drone hovering level with them

Airspace · FAA

FAA Lets Tower Inspection Drones Fly Above LAANC Grids, No Tower Call

FAA Order JO 7200.23E, effective Oct. 31, exempts tower inspections from ATC coordination above the grid, writes rules for Class E airports and more.

Haye KestelooOct 98 min read

Federal Aviation Administration headquarters at 800 Independence Avenue SW in Washington, D.C., with the Orville Wright Federal Building sign in front

FAA

FAA Part 107 Test Adds Chart Questions Oct. 26 Not in the Supplement

From October 26, the FAA Part 107 knowledge test draws chart questions from current sectionals, not the printed supplement. One in six already fails.

Haye KestelooOct 9

An olive-green palletized laser weapon with a box-shaped beam director sits on an aircraft carrier flight deck, with the carrier's island marked 77 and a fighter jet behind it.

Counter-Drone

Pentagon Picks 3 Lasers And A Drone-Frying Microwave For US Bases

AeroVironment, Kord, Boeing and Epirus weapons will guard US bases for a year. The FAA safety finding the Pentagon cites covers one laser family.

Haye KestelooOct 6

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, seen across the water with a steam cloud billowing beside the pad

Counter-Drone

Space Force Adds Lasers at Cape Canaveral After 500 Port Drone Flights

Space Force is adding a directed-energy weapon at Cape Canaveral. Next door, Port Canaveral logged 500+ drone incursions in 2025, already a Florida felony.

Haye KestelooSep 26

NASA's SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft rolling out of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center

Drone Incidents

NASA Kennedy Drone Case: Chinese Tourist Pleads Guilty, Faces a Year

Xiaodong He pleaded guilty over a 12-minute drone flight near Kennedy Space Center. Two earlier cases show what sentencing could look like.

Haye KestelooSep 19

A quadcopter drone hovering beside a glass skyscraper with an upward arrow and the text Above 400ft Legally

FAA

Three Legal Ways To Fly A Drone Above 400 Feet, And The One Mistake That Brings Big Fines

Most new pilots think 400 feet is a hard ceiling. It isn't. Greg Reverdiau of Pilot Institute walks through the structure rule, FAA waivers, and CBO fixed sites, plus the LAANC mistake that trips up Part 107 pilots.

Greg ReverdiauAug 12