A new heavy-lift drone built in the United States is getting ready to take on some of the toughest jobs in the sky, thanks to a key regulatory green light.
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Chicago-based drone infrastructure startup Valqari has just crossed a major milestone, and this one goes beyond simply receiving drone deliveries. The company announced it has been granted its 17th US patent, and it tackles a long-standing gap in autonomous drone logistics: how drones send packages without human involvement.
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Flying drones beyond visual line of sight is one thing. Doing it repeatedly, with multiple aircraft, across one of the UK’s busiest and most tightly controlled airspaces, is something else entirely. And that’s exactly what Skylift UAV has pulled off.
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Drone delivery is no longer something you explain; it’s something you schedule. Zipline says it has now completed more than 2 million commercial deliveries, raised over $600 million in new funding, and reached a $7.6 billion valuation, as it prepares to expand its autonomous delivery service to Houston and Phoenix in early 2026, with more US metros to follow later in the year.
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Alphabet-owned Wing and Walmart have announced plans to expand drone delivery to 150 additional Walmart stores over the next year, setting the stage for what they’re calling the largest residential drone delivery network in the world. Once fully built out, the partnership aims to reach more than 40 million Americans, with over 270 drone-enabled Walmart locations by 2027, spanning from coast to coast.
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DJI is closing out the year with another heavy-lift announcement, quite literally. Months after debuting it in China earlier this summer, the company has officially launched its most powerful delivery drone, the DJI FlyCart 100 (FC100), for the global market.
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Zipline just scored a massive win: a $150 million US State Department investment to help African nations scale the world’s largest medical drone network, tripling access to lifesaving deliveries of blood and medicine.
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If you’ve been following the rocky journey of drone delivery in the US — delays, tiny pilot zones, grounded test fleets, and that constant “coming soon” promise from big tech — you might wonder whether anyone is actually nailing the hard stuff. Turns out, someone is.
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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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Uber is officially going airborne. The company just announced its first-ever investment in drone delivery, teaming up with Israeli startup Flytrex to make food orders literally drop out of the sky. Pilot programs are expected to kick off in select US markets before the end of 2025.
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Flytrex just got the go-ahead from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate drones beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS), making it only the fourth US company to earn this coveted approval — joining Wing (Google), Amazon, and Zipline.
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In a major leap for drone logistics, EHang has successfully flown its VT20 drone on an intercity cargo route between Guangzhou and Zhuhai — two key cities in southern China’s bustling Greater Bay Area. The company’s electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft carried out a round trip covering over 103 miles, transporting fresh seafood and medical samples without a pilot onboard.
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Autonomous delivery company Arrive AI is hitting its stride with a wave of achievements that showcase its momentum and mission to transform last-mile logistics. From ringing the Nasdaq opening bell on July 3 to unveiling cutting-edge patents and a major international partnership, the company is positioning itself as a key infrastructure provider for the future of autonomous delivery.
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DoorDash and drone delivery company Flytrex are teaming up to take food deliveries sky-high across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Following a successful pilot, the companies have officially launched drone deliveries in parts of Little Elm and Frisco, offering residents a faster and more futuristic way to receive meals from local favorites.
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Walmart customers in five major US cities are about to experience a new kind of fast. The retail giant has announced the expansion of its drone delivery program to Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Orlando, and Tampa. This makes Walmart the first retailer to scale ultra-fast drone delivery across five states.
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For the first time in the US, two commercial drone delivery services are taking to the skies in a partnership that could set the stage for the future of aerial logistics. Alphabet’s Wing and Flytrex have successfully implemented a cutting-edge unmanned traffic management (UTM) system that allows them to operate in overlapping airspace — without conflict.
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Get ready to look up when your DoorDash order arrives, Charlotte — food delivery has taken off, literally. Wing, Google’s on-demand drone delivery unit, and DoorDash, the go-to app for local cravings, have teamed up to launch drone-powered deliveries in Queen City. This marks the first time Charlotte residents can enjoy their favorite meals from the sky.
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While Amazon delivery drones are still trying to figure out where to land, Zipline is already floating boxes into backyards with sci-fi precision — and doing it quietly.
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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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As disruptions to USAID’s global aid programs continue, Ghana has taken swift action to ensure vital medical supplies reach its citizens without delay — or additional cost. In a decisive move, the Ghanaian government has deepened its partnership with Zipline, a US-based company known for using drones to deliver medical goods, to maintain consistent access to life-saving health commodities.
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Drone Express, now operating as DEXA, has reached two major milestones in its mission to bring fast, autonomous drone deliveries to your doorstep. The Ohio-based company has received FAA Part 135 Air Carrier Certification, allowing it to fly drones beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) for commercial deliveries across the US. It also earned a spot on the Department of Transportation’s S-1 List — an exclusive list of drones approved for safe, national operations.
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Drone delivery might still feel futuristic in many parts of the world, but in one Irish town, it’s already part of everyday life. Manna Aero, a Dublin-based startup, is now completing up to 80 autonomous deliveries per drone a day and it’s not just grocery runs or takeout orders. In one case, a customer even had a hot coffee dropped off by drone.
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After years of testing, trial runs, and tinkering with logistics, Walmart has formally launched its latest drone delivery service in Texas’ Dallas-Fort Worth area — this time in partnership with Zipline, the world’s largest autonomous drone delivery service.
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Known as Zips, Zipline’s “Platform 2” delivery system takes a step forward to bring drone delivery to the home, a dream of all drone delivery companies on the market. Will this be the one that finally succeeds? MKBHD dropped a video this week checking out their testing site, showing how the new system works.
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