America's Obsession With Drones: FAA Predicts 7 Million in U.S. Skies by 2020

By Jude Abastar, Christian Post Contributor Sunday, March 27, 2016

A recent forecast released by the Federal Aviation Administration exposes an intriguing reality – America will see its skies dominated by small unmanned aircraft commonly referred to as drones. The projected number is in itself staggering, even outrageous, which according to the FAA, will reach more than 7 million by the year 2020.

These drones will either be already sold in stores or delivered in homes in the U.S, but the expected effect of these drones flying over homes and neighborhoods is still subject for debate and personal opinion. Meanwhile, the FAA's Aerospace Forecast for the years 2016 up to 2036 says that 2.5 million of that number is expected to happen this year.

A small unmanned aircraft is described as something that weighs from 0.55 up to 55 pounds. Although drones are originally built and designed for military surveillance, it has become quite a trend for civilian use. Various industries are using it for different purposes. According to the same forecast, hobbyists will account for about 4.3 million of those unmanned aircraft while commercial owners will own 2.7 million.

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Although it seems like those numbers imply unlimited use for drones, the fact is the commercial use and operation is still considered illegal if the organization or commercial establishment does not obtain an exception from the FAA. So far, there only have been a little over 4,000 exemptions they've handed out, but that number is expected to significantly increase in the coming years.

Also referred to as small UAS or unmanned aerial systems, predicting a number of them in the commercial industry is reportedly more difficult and challenging since the commercial market traditionally changes without warning. But the most important question that is expected to be given an answer in the near future is how will the FAA handle an expected influx of applications for exceptions? The exception is simply defined as flight within the line of visual sight.