Skip to main content

Watch the first, legal delivery-by-drone mission take place in the U.S.

One day, packages delivered to your door may not come from the mailman, but by a drone swooping down from the sky. At least, that’s what Amazon and a select few other companies are hoping, and the dream has taken another step to becoming reality in the U.S. after the first FAA-approved delivery-by-drone mission took place on July 17.

Announced back in June, the mission was a joint project between NASA, The Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership at Virginia Tech, The Health Wagon, Remote Area Medical, several other firms, and Flirtey — a startup specializing in drone deliveries. The mission actually involved two drones, one a large remote-controlled aircraft, and a second smaller hexacopter, and was designed to show how unmanned aircraft can be used to make routine deliveries — in this case, containing medical supplies.

The packages were loaded into the large drone — a NASA-modified version of the Cirrus SR22, as Flirtey’s drone can’t make long distance flights — at a small airport in Tazewell County, Virginia and flown to the Lonesome Pine Airport in Wise, a distance of 35 miles. The Cirrus SR22 was controlled by remote, but a pilot was onboard the plane for safety, and to help control takeoff and landing.

On arrival, the first of three medical kits were loaded into Flirtey’s hexacopter drone, which made a three-minute flight from the airport to an outdoor clinic at the Wise County Fairground. The package was lowered to the ground using a tether. Initially expected to be split into six stages, the first two went so smoothly, all the remaining packages were put inside the drone for a third and final run instead.

Frank Jones, deputy director at NASA Langley, on completion of the mission is quoted as saying, “After it’s all done, you sit back and go ‘Wow, we did something really neat today. You demonstrated an operation that really does improve the quality of folk’s lives — and in some cases can save lives.” Matt Sweeney, CEO of Flirtey, is hopeful the successful mission could change the FAA’s thinking on unmanned drone deliveries in the U.S..

Editors' Recommendations

Andy Boxall
Senior Mobile Writer
Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…
Drone delivery leader Wing heads to new country for next pilot program
A Wing delivery drone in flight.

Residents of a small town in Ireland will soon be able to receive deliveries by drone after Wing announced it was launching a pilot program there.

The drone delivery specialist is already running pilots in Brisbane and Canberra in Australia, Helsinki in Finland, and several locations in the U.S., and in the coming weeks it will launch a "small-scale" effort in Lusk, 10 miles north of Dublin.

Read more
Oops! Drone delivery crash knocks out power for thousands
A Wing delivery drone in flight.

Google sister company Wing has been making steady progress with tests involving its delivery drone in Australia, but a recent accident highlights some of the challenges facing such pilot projects as they attempt to go mainstream.

The mishap occurred when a Wing drone on its way to deliver a food order to a customer in Logan City, Brisbane, crashed into an 11,000-volt power line. The collision caused a small fire as the drone fried on the wire before falling to the ground, leading to the disruption of electricity supplies to around 2,300 homes and businesses.

Read more
Jeep is launching its first two electric SUVs in the U.S. in 2024
Rendering of the Jeep Recon electric SUV.

Jeep will launch four electric SUVs for North America and Europe by the end of 2025, with at least two coming to the U.S., the automaker confirmed Thursday. While Jeep has some plug-in hybrids in its lineup, these will be the brand's first all-electric models.

The first of these models to launch will be the Jeep Recon, which is scheduled to start production in 2024, with reservations opening in early 2023. While it won't be fully revealed until next year, Jeep confirmed the Recon will have a "one-touch power top, removable doors, and glass," similar to the current Jeep Wrangler. While it doesn't replace the Wrangler, it's definitely inspired by the iconic off-roader, Jim Morrison, head of the Jeep brand in North America, said during a presentation of the electrification plan.

Read more