People in one of the largest metropolitan areas of the country are enjoying a new service from Amazon that seems like something out of “The Jetsons” – delivery drones.
According to a Tuesday press release from the company, it started drone delivery in the West Valley of the Phoenix Metro Area in Arizona, the 10th largest metro area in the nation, per the Arizona Republic. Customers in the area are receiving these drone deliveries from Amazon’s Same-Day Delivery site in Tolleson, Ariz.
Items that weigh under 5 pounds can be delivered by drone in under an hour, said the company. Amazon said that customers will have access to 50,000 everyday essentials such as beauty items, office supplies and tech supplies that are eligible for drone service. It’s the largest selection of items ever to be available for fast drone delivery at a service fee.
“We’ve flown the new MK30 drone and put it through its paces at our indoor and outdoor test facilities,” Amazon explained. “We’re using the data from this process to demonstrate to regulators around the world the reliability of our system. The MK30 drone has also started making deliveries in College Station, Texas.”
In August 2022, Audacy reported on a drone delivery project in a small Indiana town. A few months later, we also reported on Amazon’s drone delivery pilot program with locations in Texas and California.
“Since starting drone delivery in 2022, we’ve delivered thousands of items to customers in less than an hour,” Amazon said Tuesday. Last year, it began delivering prescription medications in partnership with Amazon Pharmacy in College Station that was met with positive feedback.
At the location in Arizona, new MK30 drones will deploy from facilities next to Amazon’s Same-Day Delivery It describes the sites as “part fulfillment center, part delivery station,” and said they help streamline delivery to make it faster.
“Safety is our top priority,” the company added. “Our new drone, the MK30, has received FAA approval to begin operations to customers, adding that the approval is “historic,” and “first-of-its-kind.”
Amazon said its Prime Air engineering team spent nearly two years developing the MK30 drone. It said he devices can fly twice as far as previous drones, that they are 50% quieter to the human ear and that they can fly in the rain.
“This kind of delivery is the future, and it’s exciting that it will be starting in the Phoenix Metro Area,” said Kate Gallego, mayor of Phoenix, earlier this year. “The shift toward zero-emission package delivery will help us reduce local pollution and further cement our city as a hotbed for the innovative technology of tomorrow.”