Amazon Prime Air: Drone delivery in 60 minutes launches in USA

With Amazon Prime Air, deliveries are to be made to customers by drone within just 60 minutes, and in future even in just 30 minutes. In the USA, the service has now started test operations in two locations in California and Texas.

Amazon Prime Air: test operation launched in the USA

“Amazon Prime Air is a delivery system of the future that uses unmanned aerial vehicles to bring orders to our customers in 30 minutes or less. With Prime Air, we are working on a safe and environmentally friendly system that will improve our service to millions of customers,” Amazon’s website states.

Already in June 2022, the delivery service by drone went into a test run in the United States. Now, just in time for Christmas, public test operations have started in the US. As CBSNews reports, drone deliveries have been available in Lockeford in California and College Station in Texas for about a week.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had given the MK27-2 drone the green light for delivery in August 2022. It will be used to deliver orders directly to homes within 60 minutes. The drone then flies to the address, descends in the backyard and hovers close above the ground to deliver the goods and then make its journey home.

Drone delivery up to 2.27 kg

The MK27-2 drone can carry a weight of around 5 pounds (just under 2.27 kg) thanks to its hexagonal design and six motors. The majority of packages Amazon delivers are under that limit.

Interested Lockeford and College Station residents could sign up for Amazon Prime Air, after which Amazon would verify that their address is suitable for drone deliveries. If the Internet giant gives the okay, deliveries could be made immediately.

If the test run is successful, Amazon plans to expand the delivery service. Here, moreover in November 2022, it had already held out the prospect of a successor model in the form of the MK30 drone, which is supposed to enable deliveries within just 30 minutes. However, the new model is currently still in development and is expected to succeed the MK27-2 in 2024.

Amazon also wants to be able to increase the range. In addition, the MK30 is said to cope better with extreme temperatures and offer improved safety features. Even flights in light rain should be possible with the new model.