Aerotime reports pioneering autonomous drone delivery Zipline “has raised $600 million from private investors, in order to fuel its continued expansion into at least four US states.”
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Tag: Zipline
FAA Approves BVLOS Flights for Zipline Cargo Drones
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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FAA Asks for Feedback on UAS
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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Zipline, MultiCare to Begin UAV Delivery of Medical Supplies in Tacoma, WA in 2024
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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FAA Approves Zipline’s Drone-Delivery Service
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.”
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Zipline Will Use Drones to Deliver Medicine to Remote Japanese Islands
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)