Amazon has reportedly been working on its own delivery drones for two years now, and CEO Jeff Bezos just revealed all the details at an event in London today. The company plans to roll out the new service over the next few months, and Bezos said that it’s something that will change how we do everything online shopping-related forever. We got exclusive access to the presentation, so here’s everything you need to know about Amazon Prime Air.
Finally, the mystery of Amazon’s Prime Air drone delivery service has been solved! We already knew that the online retail giant was experimenting with how to get small packages to customers in as little time as possible, but until now we didn’t know if they had finally figured it out – or what type of drones they might use.
Amazon is responsible for over 40% of all e-commerce sales in the United States, but there’s one part of the company that you never see: Amazon’s delivery drones. During an interview with 60 Minutes, Jeff Bezos finally reveals what type of drones the company uses to deliver packages to your doorstep in 30 minutes or less. Here’s what we learned!
Jeff Bezos Reveals All: The Drones Amazon Uses
If there’s one thing that the CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, has made clear, it’s that drones are the future of package delivery. Last year, he announced a Prime Air delivery service that would enable drones to deliver packages to customers in as little as 30 minutes from online ordering, but he left out one small detail—the kind of drone his company uses. Fast-forward one year and Bezos has revealed all, revealing exactly what kind of drone Amazon uses and exactly how they use it. Let’s have a look at this fascinating revelation!
Ever since the announcement of Amazon’s surprise drone delivery system, people have been wondering which drone technology they used to make it happen. The world’s largest online retailer has remained mum on the topic, until now. In an interview with Charlie Rose, CEO Jeff Bezos finally reveals all the details behind how Amazon implemented their revolutionary drone delivery system.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has always been evasive when asked about the nature of the drones Amazon uses to deliver orders quickly and cheaply to customers. Now, in an interview with CNN’s Poppy Harlow, Bezos has finally unveiled all of the details on these unmanned vehicles, which have revolutionized modern shopping and delivery as we know it.
Drones Delivered
The company has been working on delivery-by-drone technology for the last four years. It hopes to have a service up and running within the next few months. A fleet of aircraft, called Prime Air, will fly about 60 miles per hour, carrying packages that weigh less than five pounds in 20 minutes or less. The drones will fly below 400 feet and won’t require any human piloting.
A Drone Overhead Every Two Seconds
Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos revealed that the company is using its drones to deliver packages in an interview with Charlie Rose. The drones have been in development for five years and can deliver a package within 30 minutes of the order being placed. The drones fly at 50 miles per hour and are self-guided, which means they can operate without a human pilot. According to Quartz, Amazon has more than 60 patents for its drone technology.
How I See Our Drone Program Today
We’re also pioneering a new program called Amazon Prime Air, using unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, to deliver packages to customers in 30 minutes or less. Our octocopters fly under 400 feet and can carry objects up to five pounds, which covers 86% of the items we deliver. We plan to expand this delivery system to cover the majority of our products in the US, as well as eventually delivering products outside the US. We’ll be making Prime Air available first in the UK later this year.
Where We Are Going with Our Drone Program
We’re excited about this technology and what it will allow us to do in the future. Our Prime Air vehicles will be able to carry packages that weigh up to five pounds, which covers 86% of the items we deliver. They’ll fly under 400 feet and travel at speeds over 50 mph. And most importantly, they won’t have a pilot. The result is less noise, less delay, less pollution, less cost.
Final Thoughts
Amazon’s fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, has been a well-kept secret since the company first announced its Prime Air delivery service in 2013. But now, thanks to some new intel from CEO Jeff Bezos himself, we finally know what they look like. It looks very much like a typical commercial drone that you might see out in the field with sensors and different payloads on it, said Bezos during an interview with Good Morning America. The one that I can talk about is our octocopter: It has 8 motors and 8 propellers. We don’t know how many drones are in operation right now, but we do know that more will be deployed as soon as 2018.
