The FAA has granted authorization for Zipline to delivery packages by drone, beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) of the pilot. The approval means that Zipline will be able to deliver packages in a wider range around their delivery points, without visual observers along the route – making commercial drone delivery at scale economically feasible.
In an announcement issued September 18, 2023, the FAA stated: The FAA authorized Zipline International, Inc., to deliver commercial packages around Salt Lake City and Bentonville, Arkansas, using drones that fly beyond the operator’s visual line of sight… Zipline is an FAA-certificated Part 135 operator and will use its Sparrow drone to release the payload via parachute. Data collected from these operations will inform the FAA’s ongoing policy and rulemaking activities.
The approval letter is available here. The approval follows FAA statements that the agency would move forward on expanding commercial BVLOS operations in the absence of a rulemaking by working towards granting approvals in a more templated manner, based on previous authorizations. To that end, the FAA has granted ground-breaking approvals for BVLOS operations in 3 different categories: Phoenix Air was granted permission to fly a large, unmanned helicopter; uAvionix received authorization to fly their Rapace fixed wing within the Vantis network to test detect and avoid capabilities; and UPS Flight Forward has been granted authorization for BVLOS drone delivery.
The Zipline waiver is the first granted as similar to the UPS Flight Forward authorization. In the letter notifying Zipline of their exemption, the FAA wrote:
The FAA has previously issued a grant of exemption in circumstances similar in material respects to those presented in your petition. In Grant of Exemption No. 18339D1, the FAA found that a grant of exemption was in the public interest, that the proposed operations’ UAS safety features and the limitations under which the Operator would operate were sufficient mitigations that ensured the proposed commercial package delivery operations would not adversely affect safety.
Having reviewed your reasons for requesting an exemption, I find that:
- They are similar in all material respects to relief previously requested in Grant of Exemption No. 18339D;
- The reasons stated by the FAA for granting Grant of Exemption No. 18339D also apply to the situation presented in your petition; and
- A grant of exemption is in the public interest.
Zipline celebrated the announcement, stating “For more than a decade, even the most advanced long-range drone deliveries in the U.S. required visual observers, stationed on the ground along a route, to watch the sky during the delivery. This historic decision will help enable broad integration of autonomous aircraft into the U.S. national airspace and make commercial drone delivery scalable and affordable.”
…“We applaud the FAA for taking a major step to integrate autonomous drone delivery into the airspace. This will enable more commerce, new economic opportunities and greater access for millions of Americans,” said Okeoma Moronu, Zipline’s Head of Global Aviation Regulatory Affairs. “The FAA has incredibly high safety standards and it’s a testament to the entire Zipline team that our delivery drones are entrusted to fly and deliver at scale, over populated areas, in the most complex airspace in the world.”
Zipline BVLOS Drone Delivery
Zipline’s drones, which they call Zips, have completed more than 750,000 safe commercial drone deliveries BVLOS around the world. The Zips are equipped with onboard detect and avoid (DAA) systems for real-time airspace monitoring, and Zipline has demonstrated their commitment to safety processes and operational consistency. With the authorization, Zipline plans to begin BVLOS drone delivery in the US by the end of the year.
“Today we use 4,000 pound gas combustion vehicles driven by humans to do billions of deliveries across the country. It’s expensive, slow and bad for the environment. This decision means that we can start to transition delivery to solutions that are 10x as fast, less expensive, and zero emission,” said Keller Rinaudo Cliffton, CEO and Co-founder of Zipline. “It means that Zipline hubs across the country can now go from serving a few thousand homes to serving hundreds of thousands of homes each year and millions of people, which will save time, money and even lives.”
Zipline’s robust safety system includes more than 500 preflight safety checks, strategic route design, and redundant flight-critical systems. Its onboard perception system uses ADS-B transponders that identify aircraft in the nearby airspace, as well as an acoustic avoidance system that uses small, lightweight microphones to detect and avoid other aircraft flying up to two miles away in all directions, including during the dark of night and in challenging weather.
The company has spent years researching, developing, and testing its onboard perception system, including tens of thousands of flight test encounters with aircraft. It is already deployed in the U.S. as well as several other countries.
In addition to partnerships that continue Zipline’s long tradition in medical drone delivery, the company will also deliver commercial products from a number of retailers.
Zipline’s long-range system, Platform 1, operates on three continents and makes a delivery every 70 seconds. The company recently announced a number of new healthcare partners along with customers across the retail and food sectors. OhioHealth, Michigan Medicine, Sweetgreen, GNC, Pagliacci Pizza and more will all use Zipline’s new home delivery system, Platform 2 (P2), for ultra-precise, quiet drone delivery throughout the United States.
P2 Zips fly more than 300 feet above the ground. When the Zip arrives at its destination, it hovers safely and quietly at that altitude, while its fully autonomous delivery droid maneuvers down a tether, steers to the correct location, and gently drops off its package to areas as small as a patio table or the front steps of a home. Zipline’s P2 technology enables customers to use the service as both a hub-and-spoke model that can deliver in a 10 mile service radius, and as a network in which Zips can travel up to 24 miles each way from dock to dock, expanding a business’ reach. The company is conducting high-volume flight tests of P2 this year and will release its first P2 customer deployment next year.
Read more:
- FAA Issues BVLOS Exemptions for uAvionix, UPS Flight Forward: Why These are Different
- FAA Grants Phoenix Air Unmanned Waiver for BVLOS Flight with Swiss Drones Uncrewed Helicopter
- OhioHealth Will Use Ziplines Platform 2 to Deliver Prescriptions to Patient’s Homes
- Zipline Reveals Home Drone Delivery Platform
- Expansion of Zipline Home Drone Delivery Services: GNC, Pagliacci Pizza, and More
Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.
For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.
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