The FAA has released a list of all the organizations in the U.S. that are allowed to fly drones. There’s 61 of them, and while it includes the players you’d expect, there are also a lot of random ones that somehow made it.
The list has been made public as a result of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed in January. And it’s not even the full rundown. Anything that flies above 400 feet must have a Certificate of Authorization (COA) from the FAA. There are around 300 COAs currently active, though between 600-750 have been approved since 2006. Sure, you expect the Air Force to be flying drones, but what about Middle Tennessee State University? Or the City of Herington, Kan. See the full list and each group’s COA status below.
U.S. Air Force – Active
Arlington Police Department – Active
U.S. Army – Active
CAL FIRE (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection) – Expired
City of Herington, Kansas – Active
City of Houston, TX Police Department – Expired
City of North Little Rock, AR Police Department – Active
Cornell University – Expired
DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) – Active
DHS (Department of Homeland Security) / CBP (Customs and Border Protection) – Active
DHS (Department of Homeland Security) / Science and Technology – Active
DOE (Department of Energy) – Idaho National Laboratory – Active
DOE (Department of Energy) – National Energy Technology Laboratory – Expired
Department of Agriculture – US Forest Service – Disapproved
Department of Agriculture – US Forest Service – Expired
Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service Disapproved
Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service Active
Department of the Interior – National Business Center/Aviation Management Directorate (NBC/AMD) – Active
DOJ (Department of Justice) – Queen Anne’s County Office of the Sheriff – Expired
Eastern Gateway Community College – Active
FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) – Active
Gadsden Police Department – Active
Georgia Tech Police Department, Office of Emergency Preparedness – Disapproved
Georgia Tech Research Institute – Active
Hays County Emergency Service Office – Expired
Kansas State University – Active
Mesa County Sheriff’s Office – Active
Miami-Dade Police Department – Active
Middle Tennessee State University – Active
Mississippi Department of Marine Resources – Active
Mississippi State University – Active
Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office – Expired
NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Active.S. Navy – Active
New Mexico Tech – Active
New Mexico State University Physical Sciences Laboratory (NMSU-PSL) – Active
Nicholls State University – Expired
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) – Expired
Ogden Police Department – Active
Ohio University – Active
Orange County Sheriff’s Office – Active
Otter Tail County – Disapproved
Polk County Sheriff’s Office – Active
Seattle Police Department – Active
Texas A&M University Corpus Christi – Active
Texas A&M University – TEES (Texas Engineering Experiment Station) – Active
Texas Department of Public Safety – Expired
Texas State University – Active
University of Alaska Fairbanks – Active
University of Arizona – Expired
University of Colorado – Active
University of Connecticut – Active
University of Florida – Active
University of Michigan – Expired
University of North Dakota – Active
University of Wisconsin Expired
USMC (United States Marine Corps) – Active
Utah State University – Active
Virginia Commonwealth University – Expired
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University – Active
Washington State Department of Transportation – Expired
