Amazon plans to grow its drone delivery business after overcoming an FAA roadblock

Amazon announced on Thursday that it had cleared a significant legal obstacle and could now expand the service to additional areas of the United States thanks to official authority to fly its delivery drones farther without the requirement for ground spotters.

Amazon used to have to keep its drones flying within a pilot’s visual range. With permission from the Federal Aviation Administration, Amazon is able to fly over the line of sight of an observer.

The business said that it will increase the size of its delivery area in College Station, Texas, one of the test cities.

After developing collision-avoidance technology for the drones that allowed them to «detect and avoid obstacles in the air,» Amazon was given the go-ahead. For other drone delivery businesses hoping to operate beyond visual line of sight, or BVLOS, like Zipline, the technology has proven to be an invaluable resource.

Since founder Jeff Bezos of Amazon outlined his plans for the program more than ten years ago, the e-commerce behemoth’s drone delivery service, Prime Air, has had difficulties.

Amazon said that it would start testing delivery in two locations in 2022: Lockeford, a hamlet south of Sacramento, where the program was first viewed with considerable suspicion by locals, and College Station, Texas, a city located approximately 100 miles northwest of Houston.

Layoffs at Prime Air occurred last year as a result of larger employment cuts at Amazon. Executive departures and regulatory setbacks were also experienced by the firm. Amazon said last month that it would stop using drones in California and start using them for deliveries in the area of Phoenix, Arizona, later this year.

In 2025, it plans to expand even more into additional American cities. By the end of the decade, the business hopes to deliver 500 million parcels using drones annually.