Some 100,000 Of Those Have Been Added To The Database Since December

There are nearly 800,000 drones currently registered with the FAA, according to FAA administrator Michael Huerta, a number that has climbed by about 100,000 since December.

And the drone registration system has only been in place for 15 months.

As a yardstick, Huerta, speaking at the UAV symposium in Washington, D.C. this week, said there are about 320,000 manned aircraft registered with the agency. And that system has been in place for about 100 years.

Recode reports that, according to the FAA, drone usage continues to grow at a rapid pace. The agency projects that the number of small hobby drones will at least triple in the next four years. That would bring the number of hobby drones to 3.5 million by 2021.

The registry allows multiple drones to be registered under a single registration number, so the number of aircraft is greater than the number of operators in the database. But there are already more registered drone operators than certificated pilots in the U.S. ... and unlike the number of pilots, the number of drone operators is growing.

(Image from file)

FMI: https://registermyuas.faa.gov