The FAA's airspace data shows the Houston Class B, built around George Bush Intercontinental, reaching all the way to the ground at Bush and again at William P. Hobby. Over downtown Houston, the same Class B starts at 2,000 feet MSL in that dataset. Ellington, on the southeast side, has a Class D up to 2,000 feet MSL, and Sugar Land Regional has one up to 2,600 feet MSL.
Texas Government Code chapter 423 deals with images of private property captured from a drone. Section 423.002 lists the captures the state treats as lawful, among them an image taken with the consent of the person who owns or lawfully occupies the property, an image taken by a Texas licensed real estate broker to market, sell or finance a property when nobody in it can be identified, and imagery shot by an insurance company employee to underwrite a policy or adjust a claim, when the operator holds FAA authorization for that airspace.
Section 423.0045 covers fenced or posted critical infrastructure, a list that names ports, refineries, chemical plants, pump stations and natural gas facilities. The section sets aside commercial flights that follow every applicable FAA rule and authorization, as well as flights made with the prior written consent of the facility's owner or operator.
In controlled airspace (Class B, C or D, or the surface area of Class E around an airport), section 107.41 of the FAA's Part 107 rule requires prior authorization from air traffic control. The FAA grants it through LAANC, in near real time at the altitudes shown on its UAS Facility Maps, or through FAADroneZone.
Summary of the official pages listed below, read on 11/14/2026.
