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1 1 (February 27, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/goveksa0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional ____ ~ Research Service Monitoring the Sovereign Skies February 27, 2023 In early 2023, a high-altitude balloon that originated in China transited through U.S. airspace before being shot down by military aircraft off the coast of South Carolina. Soon after, the U.S. military identified, tracked, and, under presidential orders, destroyed three additional unidentified flying objects in Alaska, Canada, and over Lake Huron. Little has been revealed about these incidents, but President Biden noted that the three objects may have been operated by private entities or research organizations and are not believed to have posed a national security threat. However, Biden Administration officials, including Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, expressed concern that the unpiloted flying objects that were shot down, besides being unauthorized, posed risks to civil aviation. These events have raised questions about flight authorizations and tracking of manned and unmanned aircraft in U.S. airspace. Although Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic controllers actively monitor most piloted flights operating within U.S. airspace, not all aircraft are required to file flight plans, and many cannot be uniquely identified or tracked. Sovereignty of Airspace The United States asserts sovereignty of the airspace overlying the United States and its territories. Each country's sovereign right to control airspace, above its lands and territorial waters, up to the ill-defined boundary of space, is formally recognized by the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO's) Convention on International Civil Aviation. Article 5 of the convention generally grants foreign-registered civil aircraft not engaged in scheduled air service access to airspace of a foreign country, whereas international air service must be formally agreed to and authorized. Foreign aircraft are generally permitted to transit through U.S. airspace and operate to and from U.S. airports but must follow specific national security procedures and airspace and customs regulations. Article 8 of the ICAO convention specifically states that aircraft without pilots on board flown over another country must obtain special permission from that country and must be controlled as to obviate danger to civil aircraft. Aircraft Identification and Tracking During peak times, more than 5,000 aircraft are under active FAA air traffic control. Every day, more than 45,000 flights transit the 29 million square miles of airspace managed by FAA, including over 5 million square miles of domestic airspace overlying the contiguous United States and Alaska. FAA has Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN12118 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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