Last year, Amazon raised eyebrows in a now-famous announcement that it was considering launching a same-day delivery service for certain products through the air, using quadcopter drones. At the time, many in the tech and retail industry labeled the announcement as little more than a publicity stunt. Since then, however, the American e-retailer has silenced some of those critics by taking affirmative steps toward making its futuristic delivery concept a reality.
Several months ago, Amazon announced that it had formally sought permission from the FAA to test drones for use in its aerial delivery service and now, two years after it bought Evi Technologies — a Cambridge-based startup company — Amazon is advertising for a number of drone-related positions in the United Kingdom. In an effort to staff a large Evi Technologies research lab in Cambridge, Amazon is seeking researchers, developers and engineers with “flight test experience, manned or unmanned” for the delivery project it has labeled “Amazon Air.”
The announcement comes as the FAA is expected to offer regulations that would allow broader commercial use of drones, so long as the devices weigh less than 55 pounds. For now, however, the FAA prohibits nearly all commercial use of drones, though that ban is being challenged. So far, the agency has granted only a small handful of requests for commercial permits — one from two oil companies operating in Alaska, and a second from a group of Hollywood studios. Meanwhile, Amazon joins the ranks of Google, in Australia, and DHL, in an island off the North Sea, in testing drone-based delivery services abroad.
As the FAA’s guidelines on drones are still “to be determined,” foreign and domestic companies are increasingly turning to overseas markets to develop, test and implement their latest innovations in unmanned technologies and services. The agency’s impending decision in the following year could unleash a torrent of domestic research and development, or it could set back expansion of an up-and-coming industry for the foreseeable future — at least in this country. With domestic commercial drone use ordered in a holding pattern for now, some companies have already demonstrated that they are willing and able to take their drones overseas in search of a more hospitable regulatory environment.
