Amazon partners with the UK to test drone delivery

British Government is providing much-needed support to Amazon’s ambitious project to use drones for delivery. With this new partnership, Britain gives the company a chance to test its drones the way it can't do in the US.

The company announced that a cross-government team supported by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) gave permission to Amazon to explore three key areas: operations beyond the line of sight, obstacle avoidance, and flights where one person operates multiple autonomous drones.

Firstly, the UK is letting Amazon deploy beyond a line of sight tests in both rural and suburban areas. In the US, Amazon can only fly drones if they're within the pilot's line of sight, which makes it impossible to deliver parcels to farther locations.

Also, this provides etailer an opportunity to make sure its UAVs' sensors can identify and avoid obstacles and deploy operations wherein one person controls multiple highly automated drones.

Despite the freer rules, the test flights will still be limited to an altitude of 400 feet and aren't allowed to operate near airports. They will also concentrate on ferrying packages weighing five pounds and below. Amazon says the experiments they'll perform across the pond will give them a better understanding of how the flying machines can be used safely for Prime Air. Further, it will help them identify and conjure up the rules and safety regulations needed to "move the drone industry forward."

Amazon is also testing its drones in the US but faces many constraints. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) only allows commercial drones to fly where the drone and its payload weigh less than 55lb, it stays within unaided sight of the pilot and each drone has its own pilot. Commercial drones can also only fly during daylight, from 30 minutes before sunrise until 30 minutes after sunset. The same rules do not apply to recreational drone flights.