Since starting drone delivery in 2022, we’ve delivered thousands of items to customers in less than an hour. Last year we also began delivering prescription medications in partnership with Amazon Pharmacy to customers in College Station, Texas. We’ve received great feedback from customers and communities as we’ve rolled out the service.
Earlier this year, we announced Amazon hit its fastest Prime delivery speeds ever in the U.S. and around the world, with more than 5 billion items arriving the same or next day globally.
Today, we’re taking the next step in our Prime Air journey by starting drone delivery in the West Valley of the Phoenix Metro Area in Arizona.
That means that customers who live near our Same-Day site in Tolleson, Arizona, and purchase an eligible item weighing 5 pounds or less can have it delivered by drone in under an hour.
With this new location, we’re fully integrating into Amazon’s delivery network, meaning, for the first time, our new MK30 drones will deploy from facilities next to our Same-Day Delivery site in Tolleson. These smaller sites are hybrid—part fulfillment center, part delivery station. They allow us to fulfill, sort, and deliver products all from one site so we can get packages out to our customers even quicker.
Our Same-Day Delivery sites are situated close to the large metro areas they serve, which means customers get their orders faster. And with connections to the larger Amazon fulfillment centers nearby, we are able to offer Same-Day Delivery on millions of items.
Safety is our top priority. Our new drone, the MK30, has received FAA approval to begin operations to customers. Our approval includes the ability to fly Beyond Visual Line of Sight, using our sophisticated on-board detect and avoid system. This is an historic, first-of-its-kind approval for a new drone system and a new operating location following a rigorous FAA evaluation of the safety of our systems and processes.
This approval allows us to start making Prime Air deliveries to customers in the West Valley Phoenix Metro Area of Arizona. Customers will have access to the over 50,000 everyday essentials—including household products, beauty items, and office/tech supplies—our largest selection of items ever to be available for fast drone delivery at a service fee.
"As Amazon embarks on the national expansion of its Amazon Drone Delivery Program, we're proud to have their innovative presence in our community. By bringing this service to new communities, they're not just delivering goods; they're delivering opportunities and economic growth for all,” said Juan F. Rodriguez, mayor of Tolleson, earlier this year. “Amazon’s commitment to innovation exemplifies the entrepreneurial spirit that drives our city forward.”
“This kind of delivery is the future, and it’s exciting that it will be starting in the Phoenix Metro Area,” said Kate Gallego, mayor of Phoenix, earlier this year. “The shift toward zero-emission package delivery will help us reduce local pollution and further cement our city as a hotbed for the innovative technology of tomorrow.”
Meet the new MK30 drone
Our Prime Air engineering team spent nearly two years developing the MK30 drone now making deliveries in Arizona, designing it from scratch to include innovative, safety-critical features that allow it to deliver packages to customers with smaller backyards and in more densely populated suburban areas.
The MK30, which went through an aerospace-grade certification process in collaboration with the FAA, flies twice as far as our previous drones, is about 50% quieter to the human ear, and is built to fly in rainy weather.
We’ve flown the new MK30 drone and put it through its paces at our indoor and outdoor test facilities. We’re using the data from this process to demonstrate to regulators around the world the reliability of our system. The MK30 drone has also started making deliveries in College Station, Texas.
We’ll share photos, videos, and updates on our progress, and look forward to continuing to learn from customers and communities as we methodically expand this program in months and years to come.
Learn more about Amazon drone deliveries:
- Watch a drone delivery take flight in 18 photos from Amazon's drone delivery site in Texas
- 11 photos of Amazon’s new Prime Air drone that can fly in light rain and deliver packages up to 5 pounds in under an hour
- Amazon is launching ultra-fast drone deliveries in Italy, the UK, and a third location in the U.S.
