Google’s parent company, Alphabet, will start testing its Project Wing delivery drones in the US, after being given permission by the White House on Tuesday.
The drones will be tested in one of six designated Federal Aviation Authority areas within the US as part of the government’s initiative to promote research into unmanned flight and safety legislation.
The announcement was made alongside a pledge from the US National Science Foundation to spend $35m (£26m) over the next five years on drone research, and comes a month after the US government green-lit commercial drone flights, but with restrictions around line-of-sight control that made automated drone delivery infeasible.
The White House said: “Project Wing is planning for the testing to include operations with external cargo loads and to build towards beyond line of sight capabilities. The company will also begin to develop and deploy an open-interface, airspace management solution for safe low-altitude small UAS operations using existing low cost, scalable communication and information technologies.
“Data gathered will be shared with government partners to help regulators answer critical safety and human factors questions for UAV cargo delivery operations.”
The tests will help shape US legislation around the types of automated flying systems that Amazon and Alphabet hope to use to delivery goods and services via air, and establish requirements for unmanned pilot licences.
Dave Vos, Alphabet’s head of Project Wing, said: “I don’t think about the problems. I think about the solutions that we can bring to bear.”
Amazon and the UK government announced a partnership, the first of its kind, in July to explore the viability of drone deliveries beyond line of sight and flights where one person controls multiple autonomous drones.
