Methodology

Every operator, and every operator in every place, has six separate fields. Each carries its own value, source and date. A company can be permitted in a city without operating there, and the Atlas keeps those apart.

Announced

The company or a filing names this place as a planned market. Includes proposals filed with the FAA.

Permitted

A government approval exists: an FAA FONSI or PEA checklist, a Part 135 certificate, or a city permit.

Pilot

A time-limited test or city pilot program is documented.

Operating

A source says deliveries began. Only a primary source turns this field Yes; operator claims stay labeled.

Paused

A source says service stopped temporarily.

Ended

A source says service ended in this place.

A field is a plain Yes only when a primary source says so. Primary means a government record or an official filing: the FAA Part 135 and environmental review pages, a city program page, or an SEC filing.

• YesA government record or official filing says so.
• Operator saysThe company says so about itself. Not independently confirmed.
• Secondary onlyOnly a third-party compilation says so. Used where no primary source was found.
• NoA source says it has not happened, such as a draft EA with no decision.
• UnknownNo source was checked or found in this pass. Not the same as No.

• Announcements and permits are never shown as operating. A FONSI means the FAA finished its environmental review for a proposal. It is a permission step, not proof of daily flights.
• When the FAA says a company began operations somewhere, the Atlas shows that as a start date, not as proof the service is running today.
• Each observation needs a source URL, publish date and access date. In database mode it also stores a content hash.

For quick scanning, each operator and place gets one stage: the highest step its sources support. Each stage has a letter so it never depends on color alone.

• OBegan opsOperations began (primary source)
• RReportedOperations reported, unconfirmed
• TPilotPilot or test
• PPermittedPermitted
• AProposedAnnounced or proposed
• ?UnverifiedUnverified

The top stage is reachable only through the Operating field with a primary source. Operator claims stop at Reported, however large the claim.

• FAA pages: checked daily by content hash, with an alert when they change.
• SEC, city and operator pages: checked weekly.
• An Operating value older than 180 days with no newer source is flagged as stale.
• A start date with no newer evidence is labeled Start date only. A start with no date at all is labeled Undated.
• This copy shows the research snapshot from Oct 22, 2026. Automated checks run only once the connectors are built.

• The certificate holder is the operator. Flytrex drones fly under Causey Aviation Unmanned, and Matternet aircraft fly under UPS Flight Forward, so those pairs appear as related entries, not duplicates.
• No fleet positions, and no per-vehicle IDs used for tracking. The Atlas tracks companies and places, not individual units.
• The Registrations page lists public identifiers such as Part 135 certificates, exemption dockets, type certificates and N-numbers only when the FAA or another issuer publishes them, with a link to that record. They identify the company's approvals. They are never matched to sightings or used to follow an aircraft.
• Places use the name the source uses. When a source names a region or a whole state, the Atlas keeps it as a region rather than guessing cities.
• Conflicts are shown, not hidden. If sources disagree, both are listed and the field says so.

• Points sit at the city or metro center named by the source. They are not depots, hubs or service boundaries.
• Regions with no single center, such as Texas (22 sites), are listed without a point and explain why.
• Operator service areas are not drawn, because no operator publishes them as data.
• The only areas on the map are FAA environmental review circles: drawn only where an FAA document states both a site location and a radius, labeled draft or final with the document date and link. They show what the FAA reviewed, not where drones fly today.
• Sites the document does not locate precisely are listed as skipped instead of guessed. Routes are never drawn.
• FAA UAS Facility Map grids and flight restrictions are context overlays, off by default. Flight restrictions are not drone activity.
• Every map view has a table with the same data.

• Reports are checked, then reviewed by a person before anything is published.
• Published reports are labeled as community evidence and can be taken down.
• Sightings never change an operator's status on their own.
• Public camera feeds are not used. See Cameras for why.

• Built to WCAG 2.2 AA: keyboard navigation with visible focus, a skip link, and text contrast checked against the dark background.
• Status uses icons, text and letters as well as color.
• Animations stop when your system asks for reduced motion.
• The map has a full table alternative, and map markers are focusable buttons.

• Ground robot rows rely on operator press pages, one city page and a secondary registry. They stay operator-reported until city permits or SEC filings are collected.
• State personal delivery device laws are not compiled yet.
• City permits beyond Hoboken are pending: Los Angeles, Miami, Pittsburgh, Dallas and Chicago.
• The Part 108 rule status comes from a secondary tracker. The OIRA listing has not been read directly.
• regulations.gov exemption dockets and SEC filings are not parsed yet.
• Kiwibot, Cartken, Nuro and Clevon were not verified in this pass.
• The operator metrics, news and registrations datasets are new. They fill in as sourced entries are added; entries without a source and date are dropped, never shown.

Spotted something wrong? Every claim links to its source, so you can check it yourself on the sources page. To send a correction, email davidtphung@nlt143.energy.