Standard · United States origin · Global de facto
ASTM F3411 — The International Remote ID Baseline
The broadcast standard most Remote ID receivers are built to decode — and the one most commercial drones transmit today.
Who must comply
ASTM F3411-22a was developed by ASTM Committee F38 on Unmanned Aircraft Systems, building on the industry proposal first published by DJI. In the United States it underpins FAA Part 89: most drones required to have Remote ID since September 2023 broadcast in a form based on this standard. Because the major manufacturers sell globally, ASTM-compatible broadcasts are what receivers encounter from the majority of commercial aircraft worldwide — not only American ones.
How the broadcast works
The standard defines a 25-byte packed message set carried over Bluetooth (legacy advertising and the 4.2 Long Range mode) and Wi-Fi (beacon and Neighbor Awareness Networking). Six message types cover the essentials: Basic ID (serial or registration), Location/Vector (position to 100-nanodegree precision, altitude, velocity), Self-ID (a free-text operator description), System (operator location and flight area), Operator ID, and Authentication.
What it means for a receiver buyer
A receiver that decodes ASTM broadcasts can log aircraft identity, live position, and the pilot take-off point that the System message carries. That pilot-location field is why RID evidence is useful to investigators — and why receivers that skip it deliver only half the value.
Timeline
- 2019 — DJI publishes the proposal that became the industry baseline
- 2022 — ASTM F3411-22a published
- 2023-09 — FAA Part 89 Remote ID requirement begins in the US
- 2024-03 — discretionary enforcement ends; compliance is expected
Summaries reflect vendor documentation and public regulator material reviewed September 2026. Regulatory text governs — verify against the authority before relying on any date.