title-14-part-48-sec48-20

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.

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.

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.

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

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;

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.

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.

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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