An Amazon delivery drone is on display at Amazon’s BOS27 Robotics Innovation Center in Westboro, Massachusetts, on November 10, 2022.
Joseph Prezioso | AFP | Getty Images
Amazon and six other organizations have been selected to take part in a trial aimed at expanding the use of drones in the UK
The country’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) declare On Thursday, the experiment will involve integrating drones into British airspace that fly beyond the operator’s line of sight. This means the operator does not need to maintain line of sight of the drone.
CCA said the flights used advanced technology to navigate, control and detect other aircraft.
Trials range from projects servicing remote infrastructure such as offshore wind farms to North Sea inspections and delivering emergency medical supplies.
“Our aim is to make drone operations beyond visual range a safe and everyday reality, contributing to the modernization of UK airspace and the integration of new technologies into our skies,” said Sophie Osha, Director of Future Flight at the British Aerospace Administration Sophie O’Sullivan said.
The trial will collect data on how the drones detect and avoid other aircraft, as well as the electronic signals they can send so they can be seen by other airspace users and air traffic control.
Simon Masters, deputy director of UK Research and Innovation’s Future Flight Challenge, said the flights “have the potential to change the way we move goods and provide services, particularly in areas with poor connectivity”. He added that the program is vital to CCA’s wider airspace modernization strategy, which focuses on making UK airspace fit for future uses.
Amazon’s drone delivery service, Prime Air, is a pet project of founder Jeff Bezos, who hatched plans for the service more than a decade ago.
E-commerce giant explain Last October, the company’s customers in the UK and Italy will have the option to use drones to deliver packages starting in late 2024.
David Carbon, vice president and general manager of Amazon Prime Air, said: “It is critical for operators like us to have clear regulatory requirements in place to bring and scale new technologies like drone delivery to UK customers.” “We are grateful to the CAA for working with us to help clarify regulations that support commercial drone deliveries.”
Prime Air has launched service in College Station, Texas, and Rockford, California, for packages weighing up to 5 pounds. But the program’s expansion faces regulatory hurdles, delays and some departures senior executive.
Lots of Prime Air workers fired Last year in the United States, it was part of the largest round of layoffs in the company’s history. The service also faces competition A subsidiary of Google parent company Wing letterand Walmart The company partners with Zipline for drone deliveries.
