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by silviot 997 days ago
They parachute deliver blood, but they will use a different technique for consumers.

From their website:

> Lowering from the body of the Platform 2 Zip, this little droid uses onboard perception to leave packages exactly where they're supposed to go, whether that's a doorstep or patio table.

2 comments

While that is true for Platform 2 drones, from reading this article [1] it seems the ruling currently only applies to Platform 1 drones (ie. the specs I was referencing). Although it does seem like the Platform 2 drones would be more of what you’d imagine for drones dropping consumer packages in the US. And that article goes on to state that this ruling seems like a jumping off point for securing further exemptions (ie for the Platform 2).

[1] https://dronedj.com/2023/09/19/zipline-earns-faa-bvlos-exemp...

The FAA release is very short, only 3 short paragraphs. The third sentence is:

Zipline is an FAA-certificated Part 135 operator and will use its Sparrow drone to release the payload via parachute.