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883 

Federal Aviation Administration, DOT 

§ 48.20 

Subpart B—Certificates of Aircraft 

Registration for Small Unmanned Aircraft 

48.100

Registration: Small unmanned air-

craft operated for any purpose other than 
exclusively limited recreational oper-
ations. 

48.105

Registration: Small unmanned air-

craft intended exclusively for limited 
recreational operations. 

48.110

Application. 

48.115

Requirement to maintain current in-

formation. 

48.120

Invalid registration. 

48.125

Foreign civil aircraft. 

Subpart C—Aircraft Marking 

48.200

General. 

48.205

Display and location of unique identi-

fier. 

A

UTHORITY

: 49 U.S.C. 106(f), 106(g), 40101, 

40103, 40113–40114, 41703, 44101–44103, 44105– 
44106, 44110–44113, 44809(f), 45302, 45305, 46104, 
46301, 46306. 

S

OURCE

: Doc. No. FAA–2015–7396; Amdt. No. 

48–1; 80 FR 78645, Dec. 16, 2015, unless other-
wise noted. 

Subpart A—General 

§ 48.1

Applicability. 

(a) This part provides registration 

and identification requirements for 
small unmanned aircraft that are part 
of a small unmanned aircraft system as 
defined in § 1.1 of this chapter. 

(b) Small unmanned aircraft eligible 

for registration in the United States 
must be registered and identified in ac-
cordance with either: 

(1) The registration and identifica-

tion requirements in this part; or 

(2) The registration requirements in 

part 47 and the identification and reg-
istration marking requirements in sub-
parts A and C of part 45. 

(c) Small unmanned aircraft intended 

to be operated outside of the territorial 
airspace of the United States, or reg-
istered through a trust or voting trust, 
must be registered in accordance with 
subparts A and B of part 47 and satisfy 
the identification and registration 
marking requirements of subparts A 
and C of part 45. 

§ 48.5

[Reserved] 

§ 48.10

Definitions. 

For purposes of this part, the fol-

lowing definitions apply: 

Citizen of the United States or U.S. cit-

izen means one of the following: 

(1) An individual who is a citizen of 

the United States or one of its posses-
sions. 

(2) A partnership each of whose part-

ners is an individual who is a citizen of 
the United States. 

(3) A corporation or association orga-

nized under the laws of the United 
States or a State, the District of Co-
lumbia, or a territory or possession of 
the United States, of which the presi-
dent and at least two-thirds of the 
board of directors and other managing 
officers are citizens of the United 
States, which is under the actual con-
trol of citizens of the United States, 
and in which at least 75 percent of the 
voting interest is owned or controlled 
by persons that are citizens of the 
United States. 

Registry  means the FAA, Civil Avia-

tion Registry, Aircraft Registration 
Branch. 

Resident alien means an individual 

citizen of a foreign country lawfully 
admitted for permanent residence in 
the United States as an immigrant in 
conformity with the regulations of the 
Department of Homeland Security (8 
CFR Chapter 1). 

§ 48.15

Requirement to register. 

No person may operate a small un-

manned aircraft that is eligible for reg-
istration under 49 U.S.C. 44101–44103 un-
less one of the following criteria has 
been satisfied: 

(a) The owner has registered and 

marked the aircraft in accordance with 
this part; 

(b) The aircraft is operated exclu-

sively in compliance with 49 U.S.C. 
44809 and weighs 0.55 pounds or less on 
takeoff, including everything that is on 
board or otherwise attached to the air-
craft; or 

(c) The aircraft is an aircraft of the 

Armed Forces of the United States. 

[Doc. No. FAA–2015–7396; Amdt. No. 48–1; 80 
FR 78645, Dec. 16, 2015, as amended by Doc. 
No. FAA–2019–1100; Amdt. No. 48–3; 86 FR 
4504, Jan. 15, 2021] 

§ 48.20

Eligibility for registration. 

A small unmanned aircraft may be 

registered under 49 U.S.C. 44103 and 
under this part only when the aircraft 

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884 

14 CFR Ch. I (1–1–24 Edition) 

§ 48.25 

is not registered under the laws of a 
foreign country and is— 

(a) Owned by a U.S. citizen; 
(b) Owned by an individual citizen of 

a foreign country lawfully admitted for 
permanent residence in the United 
States; 

(c) Owned by a corporation not a cit-

izen of the United States when the cor-
poration is organized and doing busi-
ness under the laws of the United 
States or a State within the United 
States, and the aircraft is based and 
primarily used in the United States; or 

(d) An aircraft of— 
(1) The United States Government; or 
(2) A State, the District of Columbia, 

a territory or possession of the United 
States, or a political subdivision of a 
State, territory, or possession. 

§ 48.25

Applicants. 

(a) To register a small unmanned air-

craft in the United States under this 
part, a person must provide the infor-
mation required by § 48.110 to the Reg-
istry in a form and manner prescribed 
by the Administrator. Upon submission 
of this information, the FAA issues a 
Certificate of Aircraft Registration to 
that person. 

(b) A small unmanned aircraft must 

be registered by its owner using the 
legal name of its owner, unless the 
owner is less than 13 years of age. If the 
owner is less than 13 years of age, then 
the small unmanned aircraft must be 
registered by a person who is at least 
13 years of age. 

(c) In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 

44103(c), registration is not evidence of 
aircraft ownership in any proceeding in 
which ownership of an unmanned air-
craft by a particular person is in issue. 

(d) In this part, ‘‘owner’’ includes a 

buyer in possession, a bailee, a lessee of 
a small unmanned aircraft under a con-
tract of conditional sale, and the as-
signee of that person. 

[Doc. No. FAA–2015–7396; Amdt. No. 48–1; 80 
FR 78645, Dec. 16, 2015, as amended by Doc. 
No. FAA–2019–1100; Amdt. No. 48–3; 86 FR 
4504, Jan. 15, 2021] 

§ 48.30

Fees. 

(a) The fee for issuing or renewing a 

Certificate of Aircraft Registration as 
described in § 48.100 is $5.00 per aircraft. 

(b) The fee for issuing or renewing a 

Certificate of Aircraft Registration as 
described in § 48.105 is $5.00 per certifi-
cate. 

(c) Each application for and renewal 

of a Certificate of Aircraft Registra-
tion must be accompanied by the fee 
described in paragraphs (a) and (b), as 
applicable, paid to the Federal Avia-
tion Administration through the web- 
based aircraft registration system, or 
in another manner if prescribed by the 
Administrator. 

[Doc. No. FAA–2015–7396; Amdt. No. 48–1; 80 
FR 78645, Dec. 16, 2015, as amended by Doc. 
No. FAA–2019–1100; Amdt. No. 48–3; 86 FR 
4504, Jan. 15, 2021] 

Subpart B—Certificates of Aircraft 

Registration for Small Un-
manned Aircraft 

§ 48.100

Registration: Small unmanned 

aircraft operated for any purpose 
other than exclusively limited rec-
reational operations. 

(a) 

Certificate of Aircraft Registration. 

A Certificate of Aircraft Registration 
issued in accordance with § 48.110 to a 
small unmanned aircraft used for any 
purpose other than operating exclu-
sively in compliance with 49 U.S.C. 
44809 constitutes registration for the 
small unmanned aircraft identified on 
the application. 

(b) 

Effective date of registration. An 

aircraft is registered when the appli-
cant receives a Certificate of Aircraft 
Registration for the specific aircraft. 
The effective date of registration is 
shown by the date of issue on the Cer-
tificate of Aircraft Registration issued 
for the aircraft. 

(c) 

Registration renewal. A Certificate 

of Aircraft registration issued under 
this part expires 3 years after the date 
of issue unless it is renewed. 

(1) The holder of a Certificate of Air-

craft Registration must renew the Cer-
tificate by verifying, in a form and 
manner prescribed by the Adminis-
trator, that the information provided 
in accordance with § 48.110 is accurate 
and if it is not, provide updated infor-
mation. The verification may take 
place at any time within the six 
months preceding the month in which 
the Certificate of Aircraft registration 
expires. 

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