“With some (but not all) regulatory hurdles cleared, retailers, medical centers and logistics platforms will start offering drone delivery in many more suburban neighborhoods in 2024.
That means receiving meals, prescriptions and household items at your doorstep in less than 30 minutes.”
From Axios.
“Joby successfully flew a 523-mile demonstration flight using a first-of-its-kind hydrogen-electric air taxi, it said today.
The test flight, completed last month in California, involved a converted prototype of Joby’s electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft already in development.
It was outfitted with a liquid hydrogen fuel cell and hydrogen-electric propulsion.”
From Axios.
“Joby Aviation Inc. said it received regulatory clearance to use software products that the electric aviation startup has developed in-house since acquiring Uber’s air-taxi division in 2021, a key step toward commercial operation of its commuter aircraft.
The suite of software authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration includes tools for pilots, a mobile app for riders and a matching system to pair customers with available aircraft, Joby said in a statement Thursday.”
From Bloomberg.
“Imagine airplanes powered only by energy from the sun, some so light they can be launched from the ground by hand, others gathered in giant ‘parking lots’ in the stratosphere.
Those are the types of aircraft being developed now that are bringing the dream of solar- powered flight closer to reality, with planes that act very differently from the jetliners of today.
Solar-powered planes won’t be flying people to their next vacation spot anytime soon. But these prototypes, most of which operate without humans, could lead to new alternatives for aerial surveillance on high-risk missions and emergency telecommunications in disaster zones, industry executives say. Aviation giants, telecommunication companies, venture investors and military agencies are already spending millions of dollars developing the planes and their technologies.”
From Wall Street Journal.
“The Federal Aviation Administration has authorized Amazon’s delivery drones to fly longer distances without visual spotters, a key hurdle that will allow the retailer to expand its fledgling Prime Air service…
Now that it has FAA approval to fly ‘beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS),’ Amazon says it will begin scaling drone delivery service to more customers. First, it will start delivering to more densely populated areas of College Station, Texas (one of its initial test markets). Later this year, Amazon will begin drone deliveries in Phoenix — using a faster, lighter next-generation drone that will be integrated alongside trucks and vans into an existing fulfillment center. It expects to rapidly roll out the service worldwide over the next few years.”
From Axios.
