SEATTLE (dpa-AFX) - Online retail giant Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) announced a partnership with the UK Government to explore the steps needed to make the delivery of parcels by small drones a reality, allowing Amazon to trial new methods of testing its delivery systems.
A cross-Government team supported by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has provided Amazon with permissions to explore three key innovations: beyond line of sight operations in rural and suburban areas, testing sensor performance to make sure the drones can identify and avoid obstacles, and flights where one person operates multiple highly-automated drones.
'This announcement strengthens our partnership with the UK and brings Amazon closer to our goal of using drones to safely deliver parcels in 30 minutes to customers in the UK and elsewhere around the world,' said Paul Misener, Amazon's Vice President of Global Innovation Policy and Communications.
Prime Air is a future delivery system from Amazon designed to safely get packages up to 5 pounds to customers in 30 minutes or less using small drones.
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