The Federal Aviation Administration is selecting the next set of government-led partners for BEYOND Phase 2, a program designed to improve infrastructure, scalability, safety and automation of unmanned aircraft operations. Amendment 0003, issued October 8, 2026, extended the response deadline for Screening Information Request 697DCK-26-R-00423 to October 23, 2026, at 3 p.m. Eastern.
The FAA plans to select up to eight state, local, Tribal or territorial (SLTT) government leads through Other Transaction Agreements (OTAs). Commercial manufacturers, logistics operators and software suppliers may participate as partners, but private companies cannot serve as prime offerors. These agreements provide no FAA funding and are not procurement contracts. This notice is not an FAA aircraft order or a promise of contract revenue.
Why BEYOND matters to the drone-delivery market
Commercial drone logistics must coordinate more than aircraft and parcels. A repeatable operation may need command-and-control, detect-and-avoid, airspace coordination, dispatch systems, maintenance, safe loading and receiving, emergency procedures, authorization and evidence of community impact. Integrating components from multiple vendors becomes a product requirement.
BEYOND is intended partly to determine what approaches can be repeated safely and inform performance-based standards. The FAA reports 70,563 flights under the earlier BEYOND phase, including 48,383 beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) flights. These historical totals do not authorize Phase 2 participants to offer unrestricted commercial service.
What the 2026 government selection covers
The four program priorities are infrastructure, scalability, safety and automation. The challenge areas encompass public safety, controlled airspace, rural or remote infrastructure gaps, airports and international-border operations.
Government applicants can propose up to four goals, describing the concept of operations, partners, requested FAA engagement, measurable evidence, public benefit and implementation milestones. The official Screening Information Request specifies submission materials and eligibility; older closing dates have been superseded.
Where UAV technology companies fit
Aircraft manufacturers may demonstrate payload and reliability. Communications suppliers may test resilient links. Detect-and-avoid vendors may quantify airspace awareness. UTM and fleet-software suppliers can test routing and interoperability. Ground-infrastructure firms can document loading, charging, landing and tethered transfer. A government lead integrates these into a defined and supervised operating concept.
A more useful question than whether an aircraft flies is whether a complete system can operate at an understood cost, with clear responsibilities and auditable records, under actual permissions. Teams should assign roles for airworthiness, flight authority, maintenance, cybersecurity, insurance, site access, telemetry, community relations and off-nominal events. See our commercial drone-delivery procurement checklist and integrated UAV systems guide.
Five questions before joining an SLTT team
1. Eligibility: Does the government lead meet public-sector eligibility, registration and attestation requirements?
2. Authority: Which flights and facilities are authorized, and which waivers or airspace approvals are outstanding?
3. Measurable outcomes: What data on safety, automation, interoperability, reliability and community benefit can be produced?
4. Economics: With no FAA funding, who pays for aircraft, engineering, personnel, sites, insurance and upkeep? Who owns data and intellectual property?
5. Continuation: Can the work yield transferable learning, useful infrastructure or a community service after the agreement ends?
Answers distinguish a compelling demonstration from a potentially durable logistics network.
Not the same as the FAA’s $12 million research awards
On October 5, the FAA separately announced $12 million in awards for 19 UAS research projects under a Broad Agency Announcement. Those are funded research awards. BEYOND Phase 2 instead involves unfunded government-partner OTAs; eligibility, financial arrangements and deliverables differ. See our report on those research awards.
Deadline and future milestones
As of October 19, Amendment 0003 sets the response deadline for October 23, 2026 at 3 p.m. ET. The published SIR describes agreement terms ending September 30, 2028 absent applicable statutory changes. The FAA’s broader BEYOND program page separately discusses its Phase 2 horizon through 2029; that is not automatically an agreement end date.
Meaningful future evidence includes named selected governments, industry teams, specific operations, individual authorizations, deployed infrastructure and results. Selection itself is not a delivery permit, operating market or proof of future revenues. See our regulation reference, ecosystem map and operator directory.
Primary and supporting sources
FAA: BEYOND official program; SAM.gov: SIR 697DCK-26-R-00423 (follow newest action); October 8 updated notice; FAA research awards; FAA package delivery rules.
UAVPackage.com is an independent editorial property, unaffiliated with the FAA or applicants. This is informational content, not legal or bidding advice. Verify official rules and current amendments before acting.
