Amazon began using drones to deliver orders in California and Texas about two years after the company was cleared by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to use drones.
The retail giant used Amazon Prime Air, a new drone delivery service, to drop packages in customers’ backyards in Rockford, Calif. and College Station, Texas for Christmas, reports ARS Technica. .
On its website, Amazon pointed out a new service aimed at delivering packages to customers’ homes within an hour using a hexagonal MK27-2 delivery drone with six propellers.
“Our goal is to bring drones safely into the skies. According to KTXL Fox 40 in Sacramento, Amazon Air spokesperson Natalie Bank said it will start in these communities and gradually expand to more. We plan to expand deliveries to our customers.
Rockford is a rural California town about 50 miles southeast of Sacramento with a population of about 3,500. Meanwhile, College Station, home to Texas A&M University, is 100 miles northwest of Houston.
According to the company, its drones will fly to a designated delivery location, hover at a “safe height” and “safely” release packages before ascending to altitude.
“Rockford residents will play a key role in defining the future. It helps us create a service that works,” Amazon said in a statement earlier this year.
Amazon originally planned to launch drone deliveries in 2013, but fell short of some of its goals.
The e-commerce giant received approval from the FAA to use drones to send packages in 2020. The FAA said drone operations from locations in Texas and California would be allowed “up to five days a week during the day.” It will be done on
The FAA states that “only one aircraft may fly in each sector at any given time.”
Last month, the company said it upgraded the drone with “increased range, greater temperature tolerance and the ability to fly in light rain.” We hope this will allow customers to opt for drone deliveries more frequently.
“We are currently introducing the next generation of delivery drones, the MK30. It will also be lighter and smaller,” Amazon says on its website.
However, Amazon’s shipping can reportedly cost a fortune, and the company hopes to cut this down in the future.
In April, an insider reported that each delivery made through Prime Air trials cost Amazon at least $484.
But the retail giant hopes the cost of each drone delivery will drop to $63 per package by 2025, and aims to deliver 1 million packages by drone that year.
Amazon is also actively working with engineers to reduce noise from drones and ensure customers have a comfortable delivery experience via Prime Air.
“Prime Air’s flight science team created a new custom-designed propeller that reduces the MK30’s perceived noise by an additional 25%. said.
