The regulatory approach of ICAO, the United States and Canada to Civil Unmanned Aircraft Systems, in particular to Certification and Licensing

Civil Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) have increased in variety and importance. They offer applications that can replace manned aircraft in certain areas or that are unprecedented by their manned counterparts and unique to UAS. The current national and international regulatory framework for aviation regulates 'aircraft' and does hence generally not differentiate between manned and unmanned formats. However, most of its regulations were developed in the light of manned aircraft making their application to UAS a difficult task. The potential of UAS has been recognized, work on future regulations is underway and the first legal instruments aiming for UAS integration have been developed.;This thesis explains and contrasts the regulatory approaches of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the United States and Canada to UAS. Present rules and proposals for future regulations are analyzed. In a closer look, the actual certification and licensing rules for UAS and their resultant operational possibilities are examined and compared.