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 Chief Executive Jeff Bezos wants to use drones - small unmanned
aircraft - to deliver packages in 30 minutes or less as part of the
program dubbed "Prime Air." The company is developing drones that
can fly at speeds of 50 miles per hour.
Now Amazon is seeking permission to test drones in outdoor areas
near Seattle, where one of its research and development labs is
working on the technology, according to a letter posted on the
Federal Aviation Administration's website on Thursday.
Currently Amazon can test drones indoors and in other countries. But
it cannot conduct R&D flight tests in open outdoor space in the
state of Washington, where Amazon has its headquarters.
"Of course, Amazon would prefer to keep the focus, jobs and
investment of this important research and development initiative in
the United States," the company said in the letter, dated July 9 and
signed by Paul Misener, head of global public policy for Amazon.
In 2012, Congress required the FAA to establish a road map for the
broader use of drones. The FAA has allowed limited use of drones in
the U.S. for surveillance, law enforcement, atmospheric research and
other applications.
Last year, the U.S. government created six sites for companies,
universities and others to test drones for broader commercial use in
Alaska, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Texas, and Virginia.
But the area near Seattle, where Amazon wants to conduct its tests,
is not among those sites. Amazon plans to use one or more of the six
FAA sites, but said in the letter that it would be "impractical" to
limit its testing to those areas.
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CEO Bezos, who founded Amazon 20 years ago, disclosed the "Prime
Air" drone program on the CBS television program "60 Minutes" late
last year. His plan was derided by some as a mere publicity stunt,
while others raised privacy concerns and said the technology needed
more refinement.
Despite the controversy, Amazon has rapidly grown the drones team in
the last five months. It has hired roboticists, aeronautical
engineers and a former NASA astronaut, and recently advertised for a
full-time communications manager for the program.
Delivering packages by drones will one day be "as normal as seeing
mail trucks on the road today," Amazon said in the July 9 letter.
(Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
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