More applications for UAS operations across the US await processing than the total number to have been issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) so far.
In a statement on 4 August, the FAA revealed that 1,008 Section 333 exemptions have been granted as the expansion of commercial UAS operations in US airspace continued. Many of the grants the FAA has issued allow for aerial filming and infrastructure inspections.
According to the FAA, Section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 gives the Secretary of Transportation authority to determine whether or not an airworthiness certificate is required