Amazon To Take Over The Sky With Drone Delivery

Lifestyle

| November 30, 2015 | By Margo Gothelf

For Amazon, the future is here.

Amazon is currently in the process of getting their newest drone delivery system approved in the U.S., the online retailer announced Monday. The concept has been toyed around with for a while, but a new video, narrated by former Top Gear cohost Jeremy Clarkson, shows how the newest technology will work.

The Prime Air drone is larger, more powerful, and very efficient in making deliveries. Amazon hopes to see fewer delivery trucks on the road and more packages in the sky in the next few years.

While some might think the biggest obstacle would be the technology surrounding the drone, it is the opposite. According to AddictingInfo.com, “the main obstacle that needs to be overcome is support from the government.” Amazon understands that it may take some convincing, yet they have a strong plan in place.

Amazon’s aeronautics experts have proposed a plan in order to execute deliveries. The drones will need “200ft slab of air – located between 200ft and 400ft from the ground – should be segregated and reserved for state-of-the-art drones equipped with sophisticated communications and sensing equipment and flying at high speeds of 60 knots or more,” shared The Guardian. A no-fly zone will also be put in place to buffer “between the drone and current convention aircraft such as passenger and cargo planes.”

Over time Amazon hopes to have an entire family of drones, each with a different design depending on the environment.

The FAA is onboard too with its plan. Earlier in the year it allowed Amazon to test over 12 types of drones. According to AddictingInfo.org, the rules regarding drones states “that drones must stay in the line of sight of operators, and can only fly up to 100 mph.” However, it looks like that will change in the near future.

While this might be a huge advancement in technology, what will it mean for the current job market? UPS and FedEx might not be onboard right away, but it looks they may be forced to adapt. In the future, our children may laugh when they see pop culture references about real people actually delivering packages, or at least Amazon hopes so.