FAA authorises Zipline to deliver beyond operator's line of sight

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authorised Zipline to deliver commercial packages around Salt Lake City and Bentonville, Arkansas, using drones that fly beyond the operator’s visual line of sight.

Zipline is an FAA-certificated Part 135 operator and will use its Sparrow drone to release the payload via parachute. Data collected from these operations will inform the FAA’s ongoing policy and rulemaking activities

In 2012, Congress ruled that the FAA needed to safely integrate autonomous commercial drones into the U.S. airspace to ensure economic competitiveness. For more than a decade, even the most advanced long-range drone deliveries in the U.S. required visual observers, stationed on the ground along a route, to watch the sky during the delivery.

“Zipline has long worked hand-in-hand with the FAA on our groundbreaking technology that enables safe deconfliction with other air traffic participants. Our onboard perception safety system has been tested and proven to enable continuous, real-time airspace monitoring — one of the capabilities Congress identified as necessary for commercial drone deliveries to safely scale,” says Liam O'Connor, COO, Zipline.

The FAA’s long-term goal is to safely integrate drones into the National Airspace System rather than set aside separate airspace exclusively for drones.

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