Amazon has begun delivering orders by drone in California and Texas, with the ultimate aim of providing package deliveries to customers’ homes within an hour. The company’s drone delivery service, Amazon Prime Air, has already dropped a small number of packages via drone to customers’ backyards in Lockeford, California, and College Station, Texas. The Federal Aviation Administration approved Amazon’s Part 135 application to send packages by drone in 2020 and filed Final Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact/Record of Decision documents for Lockeford on 14 November and College Station on 12 December. Customers living in these towns are eligible to sign up and place orders, with Amazon notifying customers elsewhere when drone delivery is available in their area. The most recent filings indicate that Amazon’s deliveries will be available within 3.73 miles of its delivery center in Texas and within four miles of its drone depot in California. The drones are hexagonal in shape with six propellers to improve stability and minimize high-frequency sound waves. Amazon is also working on a new, lighter, and smaller MK30 drone that will be available to use in 2024.
