Amazon has started a same-day drone delivery service in Arizona, US, that will give customers access to “over 50,000 everyday essentials”.
The firm said the available products include household and beauty items as well as office and tech supplies, and customers who live near the warehouse can purchase an eligible item weighing 2.2kg or less for drone delivery in under an hour.
“Safety is our top priority,” Amazon said in an attempt to address concerns consumers might have with the service. “Our new drone, the MK30, has received FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] approval to begin operations to customers.
“Our approval includes the ability to fly beyond visual line of sight, using our sophisticated on-board detect-and-avoid system. This is an historic, first-of-its-kind approval for a new drone system and a new operating location following a rigorous FAA evaluation of the safety of our systems and processes.”
The MK30 drones, which were developed in-house over a two-year period, will operate autonomously while the sense-and-avoid technology allows them to dodge airborne obstacles in the delivery area.
The FAA approval allows Amazon to fly its drones further and deliver to more customers than before and it will expand the service to other US locations in the coming months.
The firm had previously attempted a similar service with support from the UK government in 2016 but it wound down those efforts after failing to secure full regulatory approval.
Nevertheless, last year it promised to resurrect these efforts for customers in both the UK and Italy by the end of 2024. The service was given approval by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in August alongside five other organisations, although it has not given it a definitive launch date thus far.
“This kind of delivery is the future, and it’s exciting that it will be starting in the Phoenix metro area,” said Kate Gallego, mayor of Phoenix, Arizona, earlier this year. “The shift toward zero-emission package delivery will help us reduce local pollution and further cement our city as a hotbed for the innovative technology of tomorrow.”
In February, the CAA proposed new rules for drones that would allow them to be used for inspecting infrastructure such as railways, power lines and roads, or make crucial medical deliveries.
