Drone Registration Statistics

Many people are looking for drone registration statistics. While the Part 47 registration database is publicly available, the Part 48 registration database is not. The vast majority of drones register under Part 48. The FAA has released Part 48 drone registration data in pieces. They haven’t ever bundled it all together to see what is going on over time. You have to search around and find snippets. When you piece it all together, you’ll start noticing interesting things. I compiled this graph based upon FAA sources around the net. A news article, PDF, announcement, etc. would provide the numbers. I just compiled them all with the date.

Total Drone Registration Numbers Are Falling

Everyone has been hyping drones and saying things are growing, etc.  The total registrations are actually descending.

You’ll also notice the timing of the numbers is interesting. AFTER the remote ID rule came out, drone registrations dropped by more than 50% which leads to the conclusion that FAA was not reporting the numbers honestly.

The FAA has been reporting drones “registered” but one can think about how this is dishonest. People are interested in the current drone fleet, not drones ever registered. I believe the numbers published February 2021 onwards are the current drone fleet.

Current Total Registration Numbers (As Reported by the FAA)

Part 48 Drone Non-Recreational Registrations on 8/25/20 by Manufacturer

I obtained the Part 48 non-recreational database (commercial) which has make/model/zip of the drone.  It’s a huge number and the FAA just allows whoever to type in whatever they want so you end up with all sorts of stuff.

The manufacturer column had lots of things in it that were hilarious and well very straight forward:

• “China”
• “Me, myself, and I.”
• “Best Buy”
• “B&H”
• “Dow Jones Industrial”

The total current fleet of non-recreational Part 48 drones was 382,377.

I went through and corrected the database and put it into this graph. This graph is a current “snapshot” of the Part 48 non-recreational CURRENT drone fleet as of 8/25/2020.

DJI was misspelled something like 130+ different ways. (DGI,DII, jDI, etc.) Make and model were switched many times.  For “F450” or “F550,” I assumed DJI was the maker since they make the DJI F550 Flame Wheel. I looked at model to determine manufacturer which had all sorts of weird entries like China, Best Buy, etc. “Custom/Homebuilt” are custom jobs or homebuilt. I didn’t include into them drones which are commercially available as hybrids (DJI frame with Pixhawk flight controller).

Drone Registration Database Interesting Findings

I found:

• An drone manufactured by a university that was blacklisted by the Department of Commerce. Yes, DJI was blacklisted by DOC but this is a foreign Chinese university that was also blacklisted. Why is it in the US?
• Make: NASA Langley Research Center   Model: Mars Flyer Trainer
• Multiple drones that were totally under 250 grams. (I guess they were using these for commercial work under Part 107 which requires sub 250gram drones to be registered?)

Problems With the Accuracy of the Registration Numbers

There is a good possibility the numbers mentioned above include double counted drones. The percentage of this is unknown.

Here’s why…..If you register your drone under Part 48 as non-recreational and then sell it, you don’t have to deregister the drone. The new owner can just register the same drone again.

I emailed the FAA this:

My other concern is deregistrations. If a person deregisters the drone, does the system automatically just pull out that entry from the database you gave me or is there a separate deregistration list and I need to (total registrations) – (deregistrations) = current fleet. A drone could be sold multiple times and be passed around being registered multiple times. A log of deregistration would fix this. I’m trying to prevent double counting of the same drone. Either just respond with (1) a statement that there isn’t a deregistration list and the aircraft are delisted from the database or (2) provide the deregistration list.

And this was the email response:

The reports I sent you last year didn’t include any cancelled or expired registrations. They were just active records at the time I sent you the report. In December there were a lot of registrations that expired so the numbers dropped. We don’t have a way of tracking any drones that were sold and re-registered. If one is sold it is just a new registration assuming it is a commercial drone.

Drone Registration Statistics of Spraying Drones – Widespread Illegal Spraying Operations?

How Bad Were FAA and NASA Predictions of Future Drone Fleets?

How FAA’s Overinflating Numbers Hurt Many and Waste Money

How the Creation of the Blue List and DJI Being Blacklisted Influenced DJI Registrations.

IMPORTANT DATES:
8/20/20 – Blue List 1.0 Created. https://www.wsj.com/articles/pentagon-approves-five-drone-makers-for-military-sales-11597921200
12/2020- DJI Put on DOC Blacklist https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/12/18/china-smic-entity-list-ban/?itid=lk_inline_manual_8
10/7/21 – Blue List 2.0 https://www.diu.mil/latest/new-streamlined-option-for-dod-organizations-to-access-UAS
10/19/21 – FCC looks into DJI. https://www.fcc.gov/document/carr-calls-review-dji-citing-national-security-risks
12/2021 – DJI blacklisted by OFAC https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/12/16/china-entity-list-military-institute-added/
2/1/2022 Washington Post Article on DJI and ties to CCP https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/02/01/china-funding-drones-dji-us-regulators/

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Jonathan Rupprecht

Aviation Attorney. FAA Certificated Commercial Pilot and Flight Instructor (CFI/CFII). Contributor at Forbes.com for Aerospace and Defense.