A new report from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has forecasted that the use of commercial unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) or drones in the country will significantly increase over the next five years.

According to the 'Aerospace Forecast Report Fiscal Years 2017 to 2037' report, the number of UAS pilots is set to increase from 20,000 at the end of last year, to between ten and 20 times as many by 2021.

The report also said that the fleet of small hobbyist drones will more than triple from an estimated 1.1 million vehicles last year to more than 3.5 million by 2021.

The commercial, non-hobbyist drone fleet is also estimated to grow from 42,000 at the end of last year to around 442,000 aircraft by 2021, with a possible 1.6 million UAS in use by 2021.

“The FAA has provided high and low ranges around the hobbyist forecast, reflecting uncertainty about the public’s continued adoption of this new technology."

A statement from the FAA reads: “Predictions for small UAS are more difficult to develop given the dynamic, quickly-evolving market.

“The FAA has provided high and low ranges around the hobbyist forecast, reflecting uncertainty about the public’s continued adoption of this new technology.

“The FAA’s non-hobbyist (commercial) UAS fleet size forecasts contain certain broad assumptions about operating limitations for small UAS during the next five years based on the basic constraints of the existing regulations: daytime operations, within visual line-of-sight, and a single pilot operating only one small UAS at a time.”

Prepared using various economic data and projections, the report also noted that nearly every aspect of air transportation, including general aviation, is expected to witness sustained and continued growth over the next five years.


Image: A drone flying in the sky. Photo: courtesy of Capricorn4049 via Wikimedia.