More than 500 companies are now allowed to fly drones for profit in U.S. skies.
The Verge has just released a database detailing the first 500 companies approved to fly commercial drones in the U.S., in partnership with Bard College's Center for the Study of the Drone. The first wave of commercial, for-profit drone companies in the United States are working on everything from aerial photography for Hollywood movies, to monitoring soil content on farms and patrolling oil pipelines for leaks.