The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have launched investigations after two Amazon Prime Air drones crashed into a construction crane in Arizona this week — an accident that briefly grounded the company’s ambitious drone delivery program before operations resumed Friday.
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We’re now learning more about the December crashes that forced Amazon to pause its drone delivery operations — and the details are eye-opening. According to a new Bloomberg report, a software update made Amazon’s MK30 drones vulnerable to rain, ultimately causing them to shut off mid-air after mistakenly thinking they had landed.
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Leaks are in the air as we likely near another release of DJI’s flagship drone line, the Mavic 4. Amazon also had a big week, but not in a good way; its drone delivery operation is on pause as it works on issues with its MK30 drone.
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Editors note: This article has been updated with statements from an Amazon spokesperson.
Amazon’s drone delivery dreams have once again hit turbulence with the company temporarily halting its 60-minute drone delivery service in Texas and Arizona following a series of crashes involving its new MK30 drones. The decision comes after two drones crashed during tests at Amazon’s Pendleton, Oregon, site in December — one of which caught fire on impact.
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Amazon Prime Air recently launched its most advanced delivery drone in the West Valley Phoenix Metro Area of Arizona and College Station, Texas. The MK30 — promising faster, quieter, and safer deliveries — is now delivering items (weighing five pounds or less) in under an hour to eligible customers. The aircraft is part of Amazon’s ambitious vision to deliver 500 million packages globally by the end of the decade. Here’s everything you need to know about the new Amazon delivery drone.
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The UK is taking fresh steps toward integrating drones into everyday life with a new series of trials launched by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). These trials aim to explore how drones can be safely used for various purposes, including deliveries and inspections, even when they are out of the operator’s sight. The goal is to gather essential safety data and refine regulations, ultimately helping to unlock the full potential of drone technology in the UK.
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This week Yifei and Seth discuss Amazon’s BVLOS approval by the FAA, a big firmware update to the Avata 2, and more drone news.
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Amazon has gotten big news from US regulators that should help the online marketplace finally take its drone deliveries to another level: approval to operate beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights across its Prime Air networks.
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Drone autopilot and component manufacturer Embention says it has entered into a strategic partnership with Amazon to support the Prime Air drone delivery initiative. More specifically, Embention will provide essential safety hardware and software for Prime Air drones.
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Amazon is calling it quits on Prime Air services in one of the two cities where they launched their drone delivery program back in 2022. The news of the Lockeford, California, delivery site shutdown comes on the same day the company announced a new aerial initiative in Arizona’s West Valley area.
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Efforts by Amazon to fulfill founder Jeff Bezo’s decade old vision of swiftly dispatching customer orders with a fleet of speedy, efficient delivery drones is facing yet another unexpected challenge with the news that the primary interlocutor in its contacts with the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA), Sean Cassidy, has left the company.
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Amazon says it is expanding its Prime Air drone delivery system to international locations, and adding a third city in the United States by the end of next year.
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Amazon is now offering customers the option to get medicines delivered to their homes via drone within 60 minutes of their order with Amazon Pharmacy, the retail giant’s online prescription drug store. Here’s everything you need to know…
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Amazon’s own drones may not be delivering much – or often – but smart mailboxes that can accept drone deliveries are now a part of the Amazon Sidewalk community network.
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Though clearly still in the early stages of their development and growth, rapidly scaling drone delivery services made the ascending activity seems invulnerable to the layoffs rocking the wider US tech sector – an assumption that Amazon, and now DroneUp are have proven incorrect.
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Despite recurring announcements with significant fanfare at various stages of the service’s very long awaited rollout, it appears Amazon drones aren’t actually delivering much – or often – in the two communities where they were finally put into operation last December.
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Amazon’s drone delivery program has finally taken off with the tech giant successfully delivering packages to customers in Lockeford, California, and College Station, Texas, on Christmas Eve.
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Amazon is kicking its efforts to accelerate its aerial delivery activity hampered by repeated incidents into higher gear with the development of a new Prime Air drone due out in 2024 to offer quieter, robust, and safe performance.
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Three months ago today, Amazon announced that customers in Lockeford, California, will be the first to see Prime Air drones delivering packages in their backyards. The company is currently awaiting a decision from the regulators on the possible environmental impact of its operations. But, in the meantime, here’s a lowdown on how Amazon plans to operate its commercial delivery drones in California.
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One of the few advantages in noticing summertime start to wane in the US is the arrival of the Labor Day weekend – and the sales that traditionally accompany the holiday, with this year’s batch bringing three exceptional deals on DJI drones from Amazon, including the Air 2S and Mavic Mini Combo.
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As it prepares to bring free Prime Air drone deliveries to customers in California and Texas, Amazon is offering an inside look at how its drone delivery system works. A new video released by the company shows rigorous flight tests being conducted at one of its facilities in Oregon.
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Just a month after it was announced that Amazon will begin aerial deliveries to people in Lockeford, California, meta-marketplace Amazon revealed Friday that it will roll out similar drone services in College Station, Texas.
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Drone pilots with ambitions of upgrading or expanding their fleets – and making a really good deal in the process – should probably run-not-walk their browsers to Amazon during its 48-hour Prime Day sales and consider adopting a DJI Air 2S Fly More Combo at a sweet 20% discount.
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Don’t look now, but Amazon’s beleaguered drone delivery program, Prime Air, is finally beginning to show signs of life. The company announced today that customers in Lockeford, California, will be among the first in the US to see Amazon drones delivering packages in their backyards.
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