Amazon announced that it received federal approval to expand its drone delivery program.

Federal law requires human supervision for most drone operations. However, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted Amazon’s Prime Air the authority to operate drones beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS). This allows the tech giant to fly its drones out of the controller’s visual line of sight, meaning the company can deliver to customers further away.

Now that Amazon can fly its delivery drones further than the eye can see, it will broaden the delivery area around the College Station, Texas, drone facility. If successful, Amazon aims to roll out drone delivery to Prime customers in more densely populated areas.

In a blog post, Amazon said it hopes to deliver over 500 million parcels to Prime customers via drone by the end of 2024. ” Later this year, drone deliveries will begin integrating into Amazon’s delivery network, meaning drones will deploy from facilities next to our Same-Day Delivery sites, providing Amazon customers with faster delivery of an even greater selection of items.”

While the Federal Aviation Administration broadly governs drone operations, the General Assembly enacted supplemental rules specific to Maryland drone operations. As such, Maryland law preempts local governments from enacting local ordinances that prohibit, restrict, or regulate the testing or operation of drones.

While some public safety agencies deploy UAVs to enhance emergency response operations, the FAA reports that reports of potentially hazardous or unlawful drone activity — many of which occurred near airports or aircraft — have increased dramatically over the past several years.

Stay tuned to Conduit Street for more information.