Drone Delivery

Global logistics giant DHL says it’s expanding its drone activities with middle-mile uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) deliveries. First flights of the same-day service are expected later this year.

Maybe you’ve wondered where Amazon will find drones powerful enough for a return trip from the warehouse to your house. Amazon apparently shares your sense of wonder. A new patent suggests the company recognizes a serious limitation with Amazon drone delivery.

A resort-style residential community in Ontario, California, has begun testing package deliveries via drones. At the first delivery from the skies today, a drone delivered ribbon-cutting scissors and microbrew beverages to the Ontario mayor, thus commemorating the opening of a marketplace at the New Haven master-planned development. Drone technology companies Airspace Link and DroneUp made the project possible.

Amazon’s Prime Air program hopes to deliver packages to its many customers fast — but just don’t expect it anytime soon. Business Insider reports internal conflict, high turnover, and launch delays have put the drone delivery program in upheaval.

Does owning a personal drone delivery mailbox sound like a far-fetched dream to you? Valqari, a drone delivery solutions company, is working to make this dream a reality for hundreds of families this year. And that too for just under $1,500. Here are the deets…

The world’s leading drone delivery specialist, Zipline, has announced a capital infusion of $250 million, which it will use to expand its booming activities in Africa and the US. The investment increases the total funds Zipline has raised to $486 million, and values the instant logistics company at $2.75 billion.

German freight forwarding heavyweight Hellmann Worldwide Logistics has announced it will start using drones for deliveries across Europe in 2022. The move is seen in large part as a workaround solution to the major and continuing disruptions in traditional supply chains created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s rare to catch a clear, simple glimpse of how increased drone use could benefit a society. Now a vivid example has surfaced: The state of Ohio is set to rake in over $13 billion by 2046 from advanced air mobility (AAM) services alone if it starts planning for that activity now.

What’s the biggest obstruction to widespread drone deliveries? Government red tape? Customer wariness? The answer may be more elemental than that. It’s the elements. A new study suggests the weather may be a roadblock to drone delivery schemes.

Score this as Walmart getting serious – make that really serious – about drone deliveries in its future business success. The retailing giant has just upgraded its relationship with uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) service company DroneUp from client to investor/partner.

Between the G7 summit, a surprise drone proposal video, and bird-mimicking craft developers, Cornwall sure seems to be making a lot of news as of late. Now, it’s creating another headline by testing automated drone delivery services to British islands 30 miles south of its coast.

New York’s Syracuse hospital and its drone industry partners have successfully completed a year-long trial of unmanned aerial vehicle medical deliveries, yet doubts remain about when those operations may become reality.

This month, Botswana became the first country in southern Africa, and the third in Africa, to begin the use of medical delivery drones. Their aim? To bring down maternal mortality by delivering life-saving health supplies to hard-to-reach communities in a timely manner.

Drone delivery company Wing Aviation says it is expanding service of its noise-reduced unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to a second urban area in the swiftly growing Australian market.

Flytrex, an Israeli drone delivery startup, is quietly increasing the range and scope of its on-demand drone delivery services in North Carolina. Now, thousands of residents in Fayetteville, NC, will be able to order food, beverages, and other goods directly to their backyards via drones.

The rapid increase of drone use in a variety of enterprise activities has made upgrading their regulation both inevitable and anticipated. One such revamp is now in the works following a National Transport Safety Board (NTSB) decision to expand its criteria for examining accidents involving commercial drones.

Flights of air taxis in the European Union (EU) could begin as early as 2024, according to the head of Europe’s aviation safety administration.

Aevum Ravn X, the world’s largest drone by mass, was built to deliver satellites to space. But now, air cargo services and personal drone deliveries are being added to the list. Is this what hitting peak innovation looks like? Where does unmanned logistics infrastructure even go from here?

Bay Area drone maker and delivery service provider Skycart has unveiled what it touts as the world’s first four-drop unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).  

A drone solutions provider, an organ procurement organization, and a Minnesota-based hospital have just proven that drones can successfully transport a human pancreas.

The advent of COVID turbo-charged last-mile drone delivery activity had already been expanding before the pandemic’s arrival. Now, new research shows that expansion is poised to surge even more in coming years.