10/25/2026
*This is a long one, but hey - it's important.*
What Changes Oct 31 When the FAA Processes Your Drone Requests
On October 31, FAA Order JO 7200.23E takes effect and replaces JO 7200.23D from April 2023. It isn't a new rule for operators. It's the internal guide FAA Service Centers use to process airspace authorizations, waivers and COAs. If you've ever had an approval come back for one day, or at a lower altitude than you asked for, this order is why.
Two offices, not one
The Service Center and the ATC facility are two different parts of the FAA.
The Service Center is a regional office. The FAA has three: Eastern, Central and Western. Your DroneZone and CAPS requests land there, and Service Center staff review them, write the approval and sign it. They aren't working traffic.
The ATC facility is the tower, approach control (TRACON) or Center that works traffic in the airspace where you want to fly. When a request needs "ATC coordination," the Service Center sends it to that facility, and the facility decides whether it fits around their traffic and what conditions to add. The answer can be yes, a lower altitude, or no, and the extra step takes time.
The facility maps are where those facilities set, ahead of time, the altitudes they're comfortable approving without a call. That's why LAANC can approve you in seconds at or below the map, and why going above it has meant waiting on the facility.
So when you see "without ATC coordination" below, it means the Service Center can approve your request on its own. You still need an approval. It just doesn't have to go to the facility.
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I read both versions side by side. Here's what changed.
If you fly Part 107
Tower and high-rise inspections. This is new. You can fly above the facility map altitude to inspect a vertical structure without ATC coordination if you stay within visual line of sight, within 100 feet of the structure and no more than 100 feet above its top. You also have to stay more than 2 NM from any airport, heliport, seaplane base or vertiport, keep 500 feet below and 2,000 feet horizontally from clouds, and have 3 miles of visibility. Bridges and power lines don't qualify. Requests go through FAADroneZone, even at LAANC airports, and approvals can run up to 24 months and cover up to the whole country. The FAA isn't required to check that you meet the criteria. That's on you.
Multi-day approvals at LAANC airports. One part of this got tighter. Under 23D, if you stayed at or below the facility map, you could get one authorization covering a multi-day project with set dates. Under 23E, that's for first responders only. Everyone else gets one day at a time, so plan on LAANC or single-day requests. Above the facility map, multi-day approvals still need the facility manager's approval and a defined project with set dates. New: the Service Center can add up to 14 days as a weather buffer, with the facility's approval.
LAANC and waivers. Under 23D, an authorization tied to an operational waiver was processed by hand in DroneZone. Now LAANC can handle most of them. Waivers for beyond visual line of sight (107.31), right-of-way (107.37(a)) and altitude (107.51(b)) still go through DroneZone. Waiver applications themselves now go through the FAA's Aviation Safety Hub. Operations over moving vehicles (107.145) was added to the list of waivers that don't need ATC coordination.
Less ATC coordination away from airports. Under 23D, an altitude waiver in Class E airspace meant the Service Center had to coordinate with the TRACON or Center, and right-of-way waivers went to the ATC facility. Under 23E, outside Class B, C, D and Class E surface areas, both can be approved without ATC coordination, as long as you aren't asking for ATC services as a mitigation.
Class E surface areas. 23D had no set criteria for these. If there's no facility-drawn map, the defaults are now: within 2 NM of the airport, ATC has to approve; 2 to 3 NM, 100 feet; 3 to 4 NM, 200 feet; beyond 4 NM, 400 feet. All of it requires a ceiling of at least 1,000 feet.
Extensions. The order now spells out that Service Centers can extend an authorization or COA up to 60 days with a pen-and-ink change. They can't extend one that has already expired.
If you fly under Part 91 (heavy ag, exemptions, public agencies)
See-and-avoid waivers for everyone. Under 23D, a waiver to 14 CFR 91.113(b) was only for beyond-line-of-sight flights, and a headquarters team ran a process with briefings and a presentation. Under 23E, every Part 91 drone operation needs relief from that rule, usually through a waiver written into the COA, line of sight included. Service Centers issue the line-of-sight waivers. Beyond-line-of-sight requests go to Flight Standards by email with a concept of operations. If you stay at or below the facility map, or in Class G at or below 1,199 feet, airspace access comes with the waiver.
Renewals. Under 23D, changing aircraft type meant a new application. Now you can add a new aircraft type on a renewal, as long as it doesn't exceed the approved weight. With the supply of approved drones tightening, that will matter for anyone replacing aircraft.
One pilot, several drones. The order now lets Service Centers approve one pilot flying multiple drones from one station without Flight Standards review. The operation has to stay within line of sight, in at least 3 miles of visibility, with geofencing that keeps every aircraft inside the approved area.
Tethered drones for public agencies. A public agency can fly a tethered drone without a COA if it stays within set limits. The weight limit went from 4.4 pounds to 55 pounds. It still has to stay at or below 150 feet and the facility map, but it can now enter a 0-foot grid for a life-saving or emergency mission with prior notice to the FAA, or go above 150 feet with prior authorization.
What didn't change. NOTAM and visual observer relief still requires an aircraft under 55 pounds, 87 knots or less, at or below the facility map or 400 feet in Class G, and within line of sight. Most heavy spray drones are over 55 pounds, so expect standard COA language and plan on applying 60 business days ahead.
What's gone. 23D had a separate tactical BVLOS provision for first responders. It isn't in 23E. If your agency relied on it, ask your Service Center how those requests are handled now.
For everyone
National security flight restrictions. 23D had one line telling Part 91 applicants to provide whatever the governing NOTAM required. 23E applies to every request and spells it out: for a restriction issued under 14 CFR 99.7, you need approval from the restriction's point of contact, and in controlled airspace, an FAA authorization or COA too.
The bottom line
None of this changes the rules you fly under. It changes how your requests get handled, how long approvals can run and when ATC has to weigh in. If you have a request in the works, expect it to be processed under the new order after October 31.
