FAA Releases Drone Registration Numbers

    FAA Releases Drone Registration Numbers

    IntroShutterstock

    The Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday released two databases of all registered commercial and hobby drones in the U.S., five months after announcing a rule that all owners of drones greater than 0.55 pounds need to register their aerial vehicles online with the government.

    California is home to Silicon Valley, Silicon Beach, and now — it appears — Silicon Sky. The state comes in No. 1 for having the most registered drones, both in the commercial and hobby space.

    US_Commercial

    In the commercial drone space, Menlo Park, Calif. takes the cake for having the most registered drones. Menlo Park, which has 176 registered drones, is one of the cities that makes up Silicon Valley and is home to Facebook Inc. (which is working on drones of its own). It’s also home to startups such as drone delivery company Matternet and Skydio, which was founded by a team of researchers from MIT and Google’s drone team, and creates drones that are smart enough to react to and avoid obstacles like trees, similar to DJI’s Phantom 4.

    Other areas topping the list include Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, as well as Los Angeles and its neighboring city Burbank, where crews are increasingly using drones to shoot Hollywood films.

    Cities with the most registered commercial drones

    RankingCityNumber of users registered to operate commercial drones
    1Menlo Park, Calif.176
    2Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Ala.138
    3Los Angeles83
    4San Diego61
    5Austin, Texas59
    6Burbank, Calif.57
    7Houston53
    7Atlanta53
    9Miami50
    10Portland46
    Source: Federal Aviation Adminstration

    And if you’re looking for drones being used for hobby purposes, look to Houston. The city is No. 1 with 3,061 registered hobby drone users. But Houston also comes in the top 10 for having the most registered commercial drone users.

    Dyan Gibbens, founder and CEO of Houston-based drone company Trumbull Unmanned, says she’s not at all surprised that Houston ranks so high for commercial drone use, given Houston’s strong energy sector.

    “Houston is supportive of innovation, and when you look at oil and gas companies, they are really technology companies,” she said. “Drones make operations better, faster and safer.”

    hobby

    Cities with the most registered hobby drone users

    RankingCityNumber of users registered to
    operate hobby drones
    1Houston3,061
    2San Diego2,445
    3Austin2,111
    4Los Angeles2,104
    5Miami2,047
    6Las Vegas2,028
    7San Jose1,955
    8Phoenix1,799
    9San Antonio1,775
    10Chicago1,664
    Source: Federal Aviation Adminstration

    Nearly a half a million drone users have registered for hobby purposes since registration opened in December. And Goldman Sachs says the market is only growing. The consumer drone industry will grow from a $1.6 billion market in 2015 to a $3.3 billion market by 2020, according to a March 2016 Goldman report.

    *Note that commercial drone operators must register each drone they operate. Hobby drone users must register themselves, so the number doesn’t factor in how many drones they actually have.

    By: Sally French
    Source: Marketwatch

     

    Check out the interactive maps of the commercial and for-hobby-use drone registrations:

    Link to interactive Commercial Use Registration Map

    Link to for-hobby-use Registration Map

     

     

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