-
Industrial Layout
-
-
-
language
Drone Standards: From "Basic Blank" to "Comprehensive Blueprint"
Since their inception, drones have provided people with the convenience of a god’s-eye view and enhanced spatial utilization—but the accompanying safety concerns have also drawn significant attention.
Release date:
2024-10-11
Keywords:
Drone,Space
Since their inception, drones have provided people with the convenience of a godlike perspective and enhanced spatial utilization—but the accompanying safety concerns have also drawn significant attention.
In fact, drones, like cars and airplanes, are not inherently flawed—they simply lack a well-rounded, standardized system that balances flight safety with ample room for innovation and growth, both for users and businesses. To address this need, eight ministries have jointly released the "Guidance on Building a Standardization System for Unmanned Aircraft Systems," paving the way for drones to soar even higher and farther in the future.
These days, drones seem to be experiencing a subtle shift in public perception—time after time, "illegal flights" and incidents of interference with commercial aviation have thrust them into the spotlight, with much of the related media coverage focusing on the trouble they cause.
But we can't entirely blame the drone for this either. After all, it’s still in its early stages—lacking both established guidelines and standardized protocols—so it’s hardly surprising that it’s acting a bit "willfully."
To address this situation, recently eight ministries—including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Standardization Administration, and the Ministry of Science and Technology—jointly released the "Guidance on Building a Standards System for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems (2017–2018 Edition)" (referred to as the "Guidance"). This marks the imminent arrival of a standardized era for drones.
Rapid development accelerates the introduction of standards.
How fast is the drone industry growing? A set of data can shed light on the issue.
According to statistics, China sold nearly 100,000 drones in 2015. By 2016, the country already boasted around 500 drone manufacturing companies, with sales reaching 390,000 units and a total output value of 26 billion yuan. Moreover, the industry continues to grow rapidly—projected to exceed 3 million domestically produced drones sold by 2019.
These drones will enter fields such as aerial photography, surveying and mapping, agricultural and forestry pest control, logistics, firefighting, navigation, and power utilities, bringing fresh vitality to a wide range of industries.
Regarding the release of the "Guidelines," China Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Executive Secretary-General Ke Yubao used the term "forced evolution."
“The drone industry is growing rapidly and finding applications across a wide range of sectors—so without clear standards soon, it’ll become increasingly difficult to regulate,” said Ke Yubao. Take, for instance, the growing number of incidents where drones have interfered with civil aviation: in 2015, there were just 4 such incidents reported nationwide, but by 2016, that number had surged to 23—and in the first half of 2017 alone, over 40 cases were already recorded. “These frequent safety incidents have left people with a negative perception of drones, viewing them as ‘unreliable, ineffective, and unsafe,’” explained Shu Zhenjie, Deputy Chief Engineer at the China Aviation Industry Comprehensive Technical Research Institute and Executive Secretary-General of the International Drone System Standardization Association (under establishment). As the primary drafter of the *Guidelines*, Shu emphasized that these recurring safety issues not only cause significant headaches for governments, businesses, and users alike but also severely hinder the healthy development of the entire drone industry. Beyond the lack of comprehensive legal frameworks, inadequate market oversight, and unclear responsibilities among stakeholders, one critical factor driving this surge in incidents is the absence of standardized regulations.
"Currently, aside from military drone standards, China largely lacks domestic standards for civilian drones," says Shu Zhenjie. He believes that in this situation, the quality of drone products is not adequately assured, and technical requirements remain difficult to standardize—ultimately hindering industry development while also posing risks to national and public safety.
Shu Zhenjie told the Science and Technology Daily reporter that, although various relevant national ministries and commissions have gradually introduced more than 20 drone-related policies and regulations, the existing drone standards are still too few, leaving insufficient support for the effective implementation of these policies and regulations.
Comprehensive system, covering the entire lifecycle
With the release of the "Guidelines," this "largely uncharted" field will soon be mapped out with a comprehensive, three-dimensional blueprint.
"By 2020, a comprehensive and well-established standardization system for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems will be in place, with over 300 UAV system standards developed or revised. According to the 'Guidelines,' these standards will not only cover various types of drones—ranging from micro, light, small, to large—beyond their military applications, but will also address diverse sectors such as aerial photography, surveying and mapping, power utilities, agriculture, and security. Additionally, the standards will encompass the entire lifecycle of UAVs."
"The so-called full lifecycle encompasses every stage of a drone—from research and development, to registration, certification, manufacturing, distribution, operation, and eventual decommissioning. 'These stages already exist within the broader drone industry today, which is why the standardization system should cover them all,' explained Shu Zhenjie. He added that this approach is also driven by market demand, so there’s no question of it being 'too early.'"
Building on the above, the "Guidelines" divide the drone standard system into four key components: foundational standards, management standards, technical standards, and industry application standards. Within each of these categories, further subdivisions are made—repeatedly refined—to ultimately form a comprehensive and intricate standardization framework.
Shu Zhenjie explained that the drone standard system established by the "Guidelines" actively implements the "Plan for Deepening Standardization Reform," which was issued by the State Council last year—making it packed with several exciting new features.
"Previously, many standard systems focused primarily on technical standards. However, the 'Guidelines' take a different approach—starting with the need to meet market demands and support government regulation—while also adding two critically important components," Shu Zhenjie told Science and Technology Daily. One of these components is management standards, designed to underpin the implementation and enforcement of drone-related laws and regulations. The other is industry application standards, aimed at better addressing the evolving needs of the drone market."
In addition, among the more than 300 drone-related standards set to be released intensively over the next few years, you’ll find numerous traces of group and enterprise standards. This marks a significant departure from the past, when standard-setting efforts primarily focused on national and industry-level benchmarks.
"The national standards often take one to two years from approval to being officially adopted, making it difficult to fully meet the rapidly evolving demands of the market," explained Shu Zhenjie. He added that group standards—developed by social organizations such as academic societies, associations, and corporate alliances—can typically be rolled out in about six months, effectively boosting the market supply of drone-related standards.
It’s challenging—achieving the goal in two stages.
"To be honest, building the extensive system outlined in the Guide will require a lot of hard work," Shu Zhenjie admitted frankly.
According to Shu Zhenjie, drones represent an emerging industry where, historically, there has been limited research and standardization—essentially requiring a "ground-up" approach. Moreover, standard-setting is the result of coordination among multiple stakeholders. Given the wide variety of drone types, the broad range of industries involved, and the numerous regulatory bodies, building a comprehensive standards framework for drones demands particularly intensive collaborative efforts.
Fortunately, the comprehensive blueprint outlined in the Guide isn’t meant to be achieved overnight—it emphasizes "demand-driven priorities, with urgent needs addressed first."
The "Guidelines" propose building the standards system in two phases: The first phase, spanning 2017–2018, will focus on developing a batch of urgently needed market standards that also support regulatory oversight. The second phase, from 2019 to 2020, aims to essentially complete and refine the drone standards system, while accelerating efforts to elevate China's national standards to the international level.
This "challenging" task has already kicked off. The "Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Standard System Table," tucked away at the back of the Guide, holds quite a bit of valuable information.
This table lists a total of 267 drone-related standards. Among them, 16 standards—such as "Classification and Grading of Civil Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems" and "Requirements for Model Naming and Coding of Civil UAV Systems"—are marked as "Already Approved." Additionally, several standards, including "Identity Identification Requirements for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems," are noted as "Urgently Needed," while the remaining ones are labeled as "To Be Developed."
"This year, we aim to finalize around 10 national and industry standards, and next year, we plan to complete approximately 50 more," revealed Shu Zhenjie. He added that by 2020, the total number of national and industry standards issued could range from 150 to 180, with the remainder being developed as group or enterprise-specific standards.
Ke Yubao told a reporter from Science and Technology Daily that China is already at the forefront of the world when it comes to setting drone standards. For instance, on July 11, the Civil Aviation Administration of China released a draft industry standard titled "Data Specification for UAV Cloud System Interfaces," inviting public feedback—something no other country has yet done. "The domestic drone market is growing rapidly, creating a strong demand for standardized guidelines, which is why our response to developing these standards has been particularly swift," explained Shu Zhenjie. He added that the International Organization for Standardization has already initiated four drone-related standards, with China taking the lead in drafting one of them: "Classification and Categorization of Unmanned Aircraft Systems." "In the future, China's domestic drone standards are very likely to become the global benchmark," Shu Zhenjie noted.
Related News
TikTok Official
Official Account
WeChat Consultation
Video Account
Kuaishou Official