Amazon gets government approval to test 'Prime Air' delivery drones in the UK

When Amazon initially announced that it wanted to make deliveries by drone, the world became very curious. The media jumped on the story, of course, driving people to get both excited and anxious about the possibilities.

Like many things, however, the USA government bureaucracy stifled our drone delivery dreams, somewhat. While I am all for safety and testing, I hate to see progress move at a snail's pace. The UK Government seems a bit more open to the unmanned delivery idea, as it is now working with Amazon to begin testing these drones in the nation as a delivery method.

"A cross-Government team supported by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has provided Amazon with permissions to explore three key innovations: beyond line of sight operations in rural and suburban areas, testing sensor performance to make sure the drones can identify and avoid obstacles, and flights where one person operates multiple highly-automated drones", says Amazon.

Paul Misener, Vice President of Global Innovation Policy and Communications, Amazon explains, "the UK is a leader in enabling drone innovation -- we've been investing in Prime Air research and development here for quite some time. This announcement strengthens our partnership with the UK and brings Amazon closer to our goal of using drones to safely deliver parcels in 30 minutes to customers in the UK and elsewhere around the world".

So what does this mean? The UK Government is not about to "rubber stamp" the approval of drone delivery, but it does not want to hinder the use of the technology either. Ultimately, the UK is allowing Amazon the freedom to test the technology, and the government can review the data to make an informed decision later. If the testing proves safe and reliable, drone delivery could eventually become legal in the nation.

What do you think of drone deliveries? Tell me in the comments.