Could a Community Drone Detection Network Bolster Airspace Safety?

As more UAVs take to the skies, SkySafe is launching FliteGrid to help the community track them.

Jack Daleo

Tuesday, November 18, 2025 at 11:30 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

FliteGrid participants will use sensors to track drones in exchange for rewards. [Credit: SkySafe]

Key Takeaways:

The FAA struggles to track the increasing number of drones in U.S. skies, and despite a remote identification rule, there's a significant lack of infrastructure to collect the broadcast data, leading to safety and security concerns.
Drone detection provider SkySafe has launched FliteGrid, a community-powered, decentralized network designed to fill this gap by enabling individuals to purchase and operate sensors that collect remote ID data from drones.
Participants in the FliteGrid network will earn points, later convertible to virtual $FLITE tokens, for contributing to the nationwide drone tracking system, with the collected data benefiting SkySafe's clients and enhancing airspace safety.

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According to drone detection and forensics provider SkySafe, there are too many drones in U.S. skies for the FAA alone to track them.

Per the agency, there are more than 820,000 FAA-registered drones—more than half for commercial purposes—as of July. That does not include recreational drones weighing below 0.55 pounds, which do not need to be registered. To improve oversight, the FAA in 2024 began enforcing its remote identification rule, requiring drones to be equipped with digital license plates that broadcast location, speed, altitude, and other data.