Realistically, it has to contend with FAA approvals for commercial use in the US and Civil Aviation Authority in the UK. These seem like reasonable assertions however, Misener still has yet to give details on when their drone delivery system will be deployed. It turns out that the vast majority of the things we sell at Amazon weigh less than five pounds." These things will weigh about 55 pounds each, but they’ll be able to deliver parcels that weigh up to five pounds. "The goals we’ve set for ourselves are: The range has to be over 10 miles. If all goes well, the Amazon drone delivery service in California will start before the end of this year."So Prime Air is a future delivery service that will get packages to customers within 30 minutes of them ordering it online at ," Paul Misener, Amazon’s vice president for global public policy told Yahoo News. However, the federal agency is inviting feedback from members of the public who may be affected by Prime Air’s proposed operations. Read: An inside look at Amazon’s drone delivery system, flight-testing facilitiesĪccording to a preliminary report by the FAA, Amazon’s drone delivery operations should not have any significant impact on the environment. After the package is dropped, the drone will climb vertically and follow the preplanned route to return for landing at the drone delivery center. The Prime Air aircraft will not touch the ground in any other place than the drone delivery center (except during emergency landings). When making a delivery, the Amazon drone will descend and the package will be dropped to the ground from approximately 13 feet AGL. Packages will be carried internally in the drone’s fuselage and dropped by opening a set of payload doors on the aircraft. Its preplanned route will be optimized to avoid terrain and other obstructions such as areas of high aircraft traffic, as well as areas where people may gather in large numbers such as highways, parks, and schools. The drone will typically fly en route at approximately 160-180 feet AGL at an airspeed of 50-60 knots, except when descending to drop a package. Once launched, the Prime Air drone will rise to an altitude below 400 feet above ground level (AGL) and follow a preplanned route to its delivery site. Read: Matternet M2 first delivery drone to receive FAA design safety approval 6. Amazon’s delivery drone has an empty weight of 87 pounds and can carry packages weighing up to five pounds to eligible delivery locations. It is launched vertically using powered lift and converts to using wing lift during en-route flight. The Prime Air delivery drone is a hybrid multicopter/fixed-wing drone that uses electric power from rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. As such, the company is targeting no more than 260 operating days and 52,000 delivery operations per year. Maximum flights in a dayĪmazon estimates that it will operate a maximum of 200 delivery flights from the Lockeford site per operating day, up to five days per week. Delivery flights may occur during evening hours, but not before nighttime and never after 10 p.m. Time of operationsĪmazon drone delivery operations will occur during daylight hours.
Only one aircraft in each sector will be airborne at any time. Drone takeoff and landingĪccording to Amazon, the Lockeford drone delivery center is divided into four sectors, with each sector featuring one takeoff and landing pad with its own dedicated operating area that can support up to five flights per hour. And the maximum distance an Amazon drone has been allowed by the FAA to travel from this site is four miles. The closest residential neighborhood is approximately 0.5 miles from this site.
The facility includes a warehouse building with office space, a ground control station, an aircraft maintenance area, a battery storage area, parking, truck loading areas, as well as paved departure and arrival pads. The Prime Air Drone Delivery Center is located in an industrial area in Lockeford, within San Joaquin County. But, in the meantime, here’s a lowdown on how Amazon plans to operate its commercial delivery drones in California. The company is currently awaiting a decision from the regulators on the possible environmental impact of its operations. Three months ago today, Amazon announced that customers in Lockeford, California, will be the first to see Prime Air drones delivering packages in their backyards.
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