Amazon Prime Air, or simply Prime Air, is a
drone delivery service currently in development by
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...
. The service uses
delivery drones to autonomously fly individual packages to customers. In 2020 the company, along with
Zipline
A zip-line, zip line, zip-wire, flying fox, or death slide is a pulley suspended on a cable, usually made of stainless steel, mounted on a slope. It is designed to enable cargo or a person propelled by gravity to travel from the top to the bott ...
,
Wingcopter and 7 others was selected by
FAA
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
to participate in a
type certification
A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). It confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production, is in compliance with applic ...
program for
delivery drones. As of June 2022, operations were expected to begin in
Lockeford, California later in 2022.
History
Concept
In 2013, Amazon CEO
Jeff Bezos
Jeffrey Preston Bezos ( ;; and Robinson (2010), p. 7. ''né'' Jorgensen; born January 12, 1964) is an American entrepreneur, media proprietor, investor, and commercial astronaut. He is the founder, executive chairman, and former preside ...
revealed plans for Amazon Prime Air in an interview on ''
60 Minutes''.
The Amazon Prime Air team worked with
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
and
Single European Sky ATM on trials using the Amazon air traffic management system. For additional safety, drones will fly at low altitudes (below 400 feet). There are no roads or fixed routes so there are many more options to get from point A to point B, which makes navigating a drone through the air very different from driving a car on a road. Amazon claims their traffic management system is easy to use for various operators in the same airspace because it will connect via the internet.
As of 2022, the cost for a single drone delivery in Amazon's ongoing US trials was at least $484, which the company anticipated to reduce to $63 by 2025 - still almost 20 times as high as its average ground delivery cost.
At the time, customers participating in the trials were required to install a physical marker in their backyard to specify the drop-off location, and to designate a person responsible for observing the drone's flight path.
The drones used cost $146,000 to build per unit, and had a reach of five kilometers.
United States regulations and testing under waiver program
In the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, Congress issued the
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...
a deadline of September 30, 2015 to accomplish a "safe integration of civil unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system." In August 2016 commercial use of UAV technology was legalized by the United States Congress.
In March 2015, the
FAA
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
granted Amazon permission to begin U.S. testing of a prototype under a waiver to the then regulations. Amazon reported that the vehicle cleared for use was obsolete. In April 2015, the FAA allowed Amazon to begin testing current models. In the interim, Amazon had begun testing at a Canadian site close to the United States border.
Current U.S. regulations required drones fly no higher than 400 ft. (122 m), no faster than 100 mph (161 km/h), and remain within the pilot's line of sight. Amazon has stated it intends to move towards operating above 200 ft. (61 m) and beneath 500 ft. (152 m). Amazon has stated it plans to fly drones weighing up to 55 lbs. (25 kg) within a 10 mi (16 km) radius of its warehouses, at speeds of up to 50 mph (80.5 km/h) with packages weighing up to 5 lbs. (2.26 kg) in tow.
In June 2019, the FAA granted Amazon Prime Air a Special Airworthiness Certificate for training and research of its MK27 drone. In August 2020, the company received an FAA Part 135 air carrier certificate. The same year, Amazon began trials in several rural areas in Oregon and California, which were still ongoing as of April 2022, with about 30 different products available for delivery.
Tests in Cambridge, England
Amazon has patented a beehive-like structure to house delivery drones in cities, allowing Amazon to move from large single-story warehouses that temporarily store packages before they are shipped.
Fulfillment centers designed to accommodate drone deliveries and operations within a certain radius are currently required.
On December 7, 2016, Amazon successfully delivered a Prime Air parcel to
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
from a fulfillment center in the Cambridge area. Amazon posted a video of the delivery on their official
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
channel, later that month.
Also in December 2016, Amazon began its first publicly available trial of Amazon Prime Air to those within several miles of Amazon's depot in Cambridge.
Self-driving cars
Autonomous vehicle
Vehicular automation involves the use of mechatronics, artificial intelligence, and multi-agent systems to assist the operator of a vehicle (car, aircraft, watercraft, or otherwise).Hu, J.; Bhowmick, P.; Lanzon, A.,Group Coordinated Control o ...
s also fall under the Prime Air division's responsibility. In 2017, Amazon was granted a patent for a method that would allow autonomous cars to deal with
reversible lane
A reversible lane (British English: tidal flow) is a lane in which traffic may travel in either direction, depending on certain conditions. Typically, it is meant to improve traffic flow during rush hours, by having overhead traffic lights and li ...
s by receiving information from a central management system.
Upcoming launch in Lockeford, California
On June 13, 2022, Amazon announced that they would be delivering products using Prime Air drones to customers residing in the small town of
Lockeford, California.
The announcement did not provide a specific launch date other than "later this year", as Amazon was still awaiting permission from the FAA and Lockeford officials.
See also
*
Wingcopter
*
Wing (company)
Wing is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. that develops a drone delivery system and UTM systems. The company completed their first deliveries in 2014. The company has operations in Australia, the United States, and Finland. In July 2018, Project W ...
*
Zipline (drone delivery)
Zipline is an American company that designs, manufactures, and operates delivery drones. The company operates distribution centers in Rwanda, Ghana, Japan, the United States, and Nigeria, with signed agreements to begin service in Cote d'Ivoi ...
References
{{Amazon.com
Amazon (company)
unmanned
An uncrewed vehicle or unmanned vehicle is a vehicle without a person on board. Uncrewed vehicles can either be under telerobotic control—remote controlled or remote guided vehicles—or they can be autonomously controlled—autonomous vehicl ...
Logistics companies of the United States