Gagadget.com reports, “Skydweller Aero has completed testing of the Skydweller drone equipped with solar panels. The test campaign was initiated as part of the Joint Concept for Technology Demonstration (JCTD) of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defence for Research and Development (OUSD R&E). The test was also supported by the aviation unit of the US Navy Air Warfare Centre (NAWCAD).”
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Skydweller Completes First Autonomous Flight
(Skydweller Aero; YouTube)
Aviation Week reports that the FAA “has authorized Zipline International to perform beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) flights of its cargo drones.” The company, which “is a Part 135 operator, is now authorized by the regulator to deliver commercial packages using its UAV and a parachute.”
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ExecutiveGov reports that the Federal Aviation Administration is asking for feedback from UAS industry members “on requests by four companies to fly uncrewed aerial vehicles beyond visual line-of-sight.” Aerial data acquisition services provider Phoenix Air Unmanned, UAS technology developer uAvionix and autonomous delivery companies UPS Flight Forward and Zipline “have sought permission to conduct BVLOS drone operations at or below 400 feet, the FAA said Tuesday.”
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Reuters reported that JUICE – which stands for JUpiter ICy Moons Explorer – “is one of the most important space missions of 2023.” Its aim “is to explore Jupiter’s moons to see if any can be lived on by humans.” The European Space Agency project team “behind JUICE held a major review this week and concluded the mission was ‘go for launch.’” JUICE will take “eight years to get to the giant planet Jupiter – where it will explore three of its moons.” The six-ton spacecraft “will make fly-bys, which means a close approach for observation without landing, of the moons Callisto, Ganymede and Europa.” It will then “settle permanently around Ganymede in late 2034.” The aim of the mission “is to find out if any of the moons are habitable and can support life.”
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Flying Magazine reports, “Manufacturer Rotor Technologies this week flew its R550 Sprayhawk—which it calls the largest spray drone in the world—at Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport (KAFW) during the National Agricultural Aviation Association’s (NAAA) Ag Aviation Expo in Fort Worth, Texas. FLYING was on the scene to capture the remotely piloted demonstration, part of the launch of the 2025 model Sprayhawk.”
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Rotor Technologies’ Sprayhawk
(Farms.com; YouTube)
ExecutiveGov reports that the Federal Aviation Administration “has selected five universities to examine drone-based approaches government organizations can apply when responding to manmade or natural disasters.” The grantees are the University of Vermont, the University of Alabama Huntsville, New Mexico State University, North Carolina State University, and Kansas State University.
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CNET News reports that UAVs “will begin ferrying medical supplies to addresses” in Tacoma, WA beginning in 2024. Although the initiative “still requires regulatory approval for details of the flight operations,” the two companies behind the project – Zipline and MultiCare – “said the service will whisk lab samples, medicines, and test kits among Multicare’s local facilities.” CNET News says the Tacoma project “marks the latest use of drones to speed up deliveries” of much-needed goods, “which can be slowed by increasingly congested roads.”
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CNET News reports that drone company Zipline will “begin delivering prescription drugs and other medical supplies in May to hospitals in Japan’s hard-to-reach Goto Islands.” Toyota Tsusho, which “invested in Zipline in 2018, will run the operation.” Zipline and Toyota Tsusho “said the service will cut delivery times to 30 minutes from several hours.” Test flights “are already underway.” Zipline said it plans to expand the service to several islands in time, with the ability to handle 250 deliveries a day “to thousands of facilities and homes within the service area.
Full Story (CNET News)
BNN Bloomberg (CAN) reports that “Zipline International Inc., which already is making deliveries with companies such as Walmart Inc., said Tuesday that the Federal Aviation Administration certification would allow it to expand by shipping [health-care] products from its North Carolina headquarters.” Zipline’s drones do not fly like typical drones but fly “more like a traditional plane and [are] capable of traveling longer distances.” The company has “made more than 300,000 commercial deliveries, many of them medical supply drops in Africa.”
Full Story (BNN Bloomberg)
Aviation Week reports that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) “has accredited the Drone Racing League (DRL) as the first uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) event organizer in the U.S.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)