Amazon to test out delivery drones

Amazon.com has gotten serious with its bid to provide Prime Air package delivery service. It has asked the FAA for permission to test out the service.





The online retailer is developing aerial vehicles that travel over 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour, and will carry 5pound (2.3 kilogram) payloads, which account for 86 percent of the products sold on Amazon.

The drones that Amazon wants to test adhere to the FAA's regulations in that they don't exceed 55 pounds, and will be rotorpowered using a battery source. It will conduct its operations in a confined area over isolated Amazon private property, which is located at a sufficient distance away from airports and other locations with aviation activities, densely populated areas, and military or government installations or airfields.

The FAA is required by U.S. Congress to frame a “safe integration” plan for the commercial use of UAS (unmanned aircraft systems) by Sept. 30, 2015.