Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
FAA’s National Drone Registry Marks First Anniversary
Registration is required for drones weighing 250 grams to 55 pounds.

The national drone registry the FAA created through an expedited rulemaking last year marked its one-year anniversary on December 21. As of that date, more than 616,000 people had registered via the agency’s site to operate one or more small drones for recreation. The FAA convened an industry-government task force to develop the registration system in November 2015 and quickly enacted a regulation out of concern that hundreds of thousands of drones given as holiday gifts would flood the airspace system, with no way of identifying operators who fly irresponsibly. The agency now requires that owners of drones weighing from 250 grams—or about half a pound—up to 55 pounds register online and affix an identification number to each aircraft they own. Registration costs $5 and remains valid for three years.