未來很可能會有更多無人機在空中轟鳴。

美國聯邦航空管理局最新發布的報告預計，與今年的250萬架相比，2020年的無人機銷量將飆升至700萬架。

該機構表示，無人機愛好者貢獻的銷量將從2016年的190萬架提高到2020年的430萬架，而商用無人機的銷量則會增長三倍以上，從60萬架提高到270萬架。

聯邦航空管理局認為，商用無人機將在2017年出現重大轉機，屆時，它將會被應用到諸如搜索輸電線、為保險公司檢查屋頂等各個方面。商用無人機的銷量預計將達到250萬架，而在此之后的幾年里，它的銷量只會略微增長。

目前，各公司在使用商用無人機之前，必須獲得聯邦航空管理局的許可。一些公司和無人機的游說團抱怨稱：無人機之所以沒有在美國迅速發展，部分原因就在于這種管制。

正在起草的新規定旨在讓商用無人機的使用流程化。聯邦航空管理局的報告表示，這些條例將于春季末出臺。

自3月起，聯邦航空管理局已經向各公司授予了超過3000份無人機相關的許可。

聯邦航空管理局的報告中還預計，在管制結束后，無人機應用在眾多領域。其中，最大的應用領域是工業安全檢測，隨后是房地產和相關的空中攝影、農業、保險和政府。（財富中文網）

譯者：嚴匡正

The future will likely include a lot more drones buzzing overhead.

Drone sales are expected to grow from 2.5 million this year to 7 million in 2020, according to reportreleased this week by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Hobbyist sales will more than double from 1.9 million drones in 2016 to 4.3 million in 2020, the agency said. Meanwhile, business sales will triple over the period from 600,000 to 2.7 million.

The FAA believes that 2017 will be the big turning point in drone adoption by businesses, which use them for everything from scanning power lines to inspecting rooftops for insurance companies. Commercial sales are expected to reach 2.5 million, after which sales will increase only slightly for the next few years.

Currently, companies must obtain FAA certification to fly drones for business purposes. Some businesses and drone lobbying groups have grumbled that the regulation is partly to blame for preventing the drone industry from taking off in the United States.

New rules are in the works that are aimed at streamlining the process for businesses. They are expected to be completed by the later this Spring, the FAA report said.

As of March, the FAA has granted over 3,000 drone-related certifications to businesses.

The FAA report also shows the markets that the administrations expects will be big users of drones after the regulations are finalized. Industrial inspections will be the biggest use, the agency said, followed by real estate and related aerial photography, agriculture, insurance, and government.