Low-altitude Economy Regulatory Sandbox (“Sandbox ”)


The Sandbox aims to enable industry stakeholders to test and conduct trials on some project concepts within pre-defined air routes and in a controlled and safe manner. The objectives are to -

a. support the Government in developing policies and regulatory guidelines that better embrace the latest technologies as well as the needs of the industry while ensuring public and aviation safety;
b. test and conduct trials relevant to airspace management, flight operations, infrastructure/facilities (including storage/carriage and ground supporting facilities), and emergency response required to support the safe and efficient operations of unmanned aircraft;
c. adopt a risk-based approach to conduct tests and trials at various locations to collect data against various parameters such that safe and reliable flights can be ensured within the parameters, including:
  • environmental factors (such as temperature, visibility, rain/humidity, wind speed, etc.);
  • date of the week/time of the day;
  • unmanned aircraft’s weight and payload;
  • flying altitude and speed;
  • strength and stability of the signals for Global Navigation Satellite System with consideration on ionospheric disturbance, and communication/surveillance network in the unique environment of Hong Kong with surrounding terrain and high-rise buildings, including remote, sparsely populated, over-water and cross-boundary areas, etc.;
  • response to various emergency situations with multiple layers of risk mitigating measures; and
  • simultaneous operations of multiple unmanned aircraft with the support of an advanced SUA controlling and surveillance system with proven safety records;
d. enable the Government to collect data to validate that the applications are viable and can meet the relevant safety, stability, reliability and resilience requirements;
e. demonstrate safe segregation from aircraft, helicopters, other airspace users, people, vehicles, vessels and building structures;
f. showcase applications of technologies relevant to low-altitude economy (“LAE”);
g. for cross-boundary applications, validate procedures and liaison between relevant authorities in the Mainland and Hong Kong (including but not limited to Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (“CIQ”)) arrangements and other relevant requirements; and
h. enable participants to gather, under a controlled environment, data and user feedback so that they can make refinements to their LAE initiatives, thereby validating the proposed applications are technically and commercially viable, expediting the launch of new LAE products or services, and reducing the development and pre-launch costs.


In the first batch of Sandbox, 38 pilot projects were selected, covering a wide range of fields and application scenarios, including emergency and rescue, logistics and distribution, inspections and safety maintenance, surveillance, and low-altitude infrastructure.

Sandbox , as its name stands, is expected to bring about the new elements of “extra”, “extended” and “collaboration”, and raise the work on developing LAE to the next level.

While application scenarios tested in the first batch of Sandbox will not be repeated in general, the Sandbox will focus on the following modules:

(i) Unmanned aircraft system traffic management (“UTM”) system demonstrations;
(ii) Unconventional aircraft, such as unmanned aircraft weighing more than 150 kg, eVTOLs and unconventional aircraft designed for passenger-carrying;
(iii) Cross-boundary applications (involving small unmanned aircraft or unconventional aircraft);
(iv) Multiple applications / users shared-platform (for small unmanned aircraft only); and
(v) Other applications as approved by the Working Group on Developing Low-altitude Economy (“WG”) (for small unmanned aircraft only)





Email: LAE.enquiry@tlb.gov.hk






The government received a total of 72 applications for the "Regulatory Sandbox" pilot projects submitted by applicants. After evaluation by the Working Group on Developing Low-altitude Economy, 38 projects will be implemented. The applying institutions include commercial enterprises, universities/research institutions, public utility organizations, and government departments. The project contents cover various fields and application scenarios such as emergency and rescue, drone delivery, inspection and maintenance, surveillance and low-altitude infrastructure. Please visit the following page for the relevant list.

As of 31 March 2026, 33 Regulatory Sandbox pilot projects have been implemented. For the project details, please refer to the attached list.



The Government rolled out the advanced LAE “Regulatory Sandbox ” in November 2025, covering unmanned aircraft system traffic management (“UTM”) system demonstrations, unconventional aircraft, cross-boundary applications, multiple applications/users shared-platform and other application scenarios that are technically more complex. As at the application deadline of 28 February 2026, more than 100 applications were received across the five modules. Following evaluation by the Working Group on Developing Low-altitude Economy, 15 pilot projects under the UTM system demonstrations module and a first batch of four pilot projects under the unconventional aircraft module have been selected for implementation in phases. Please refer to the attached lists of the relevant modules:

(i) UTM system demonstrations
(ii) Unconventional aircraft (First Batch)

The Working Group on Developing Low-altitude Economy is evaluating the other applications and will announce the results in due course.



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