Amazon Prime Air’s First Customer Delivery
Amazon has hinted at a future of delivery by drones for years and it seems the future is upon us. Amazon Prime Air made its first official package delivery in just 13 minutes… How’s that for fast shipping?
On December 7, 2016 in Cambridge, England one lucky customer received the first ever Amazon package delivered by a completely autonomous (without a pilot) drone. In the package was an Amazon Fire TV box and a bag of popcorn.
Amazon Prime Air aims to deliver packages to the customer’s doorstep in 30 minutes or less. Currently, Prime Air is only available as a private trial for customers in the Cambridge area of England, but my guess is it won’t be long before this trial makes it to the states.
As of now, the service is restricted by weather conditions, safety concerns, and weight restrictions. Drones will only be able to make deliveries in sunny daylight conditions with no rain or strong winds. Customers must have a large enough yard for the drone to make a safe flight and package drop, and the products within the package cannot exceed the 5.7 lb weight restriction, limiting the amount of products the customer can order at once.
Amazon CEO and founder of the tech giant Jeff Bezos confirmed the delivery by tweeting “First-ever #AmazonPrimeAir customer delivery is in the books. 13 min—click to delivery.”
Amazon provided a short clip where the drone was seen launching from an Amazon Fulfillment Center before reaching an altitude of 400 ft to make its delivery:
Amazon did not disclose the distance the drone had traveled in order to make the delivery but it is an exciting start for the Amazon Prime Air service and the commercial drone industry.