News & Analysis
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Independent coverage of drone delivery regulation, operators, technology and business — updated daily.
aerial · zipline’s platform 2: a new delivery mechanism that changes what drone delivery can reach
OPERATORS
Zipline’s Platform 2: a new delivery mechanism that changes what drone delivery can reach
In 2023, Zipline announced Platform 2 — a fundamentally different delivery system from the fixed-wing drop mechanism that made its name in Rwanda. The new system uses a small autonomous droid called Zip that descends from the aircraft to deliver packages to door-sized zones. Here is what changed and why it matters.
OPERATORS
Wing in Finland: Europe’s first commercial drone delivery service and what it has demonstrated
Wing launched commercial drone delivery operations in Espoo, Finland in 2022, becoming the first commercial drone delivery service in Europe. Finland's combination of progressive regulation, suburban geography, and Wing's established operational model made it the entry point for European drone delivery at commercial scale.
OPERATORS
Dronamics: the Black Swan and the case for cargo drone express freight between cities
Dronamics is a Bulgarian company developing the Black Swan — a fixed-wing unmanned cargo aircraft with a payload capacity of up to 350 kilograms and a range of up to 2,500 kilometres. The company's vision is not last-mile delivery but something closer to autonomous air freight between cities.
OPERATORS
Who’s delivering by drone — and where in the world it is happening
A handful of companies have moved from trial to genuine commercial operation. They are spread across three continents, serve very different use cases, and represent meaningfully different approaches to the same fundamental problem. This is the beginner's guide to the operator landscape.
OPERATORS
Elroy Air and the Chaparral: autonomous cargo drones for the middle mile
OPERATORS
Wingcopter: the German tilt-rotor operator delivering medicine from Tanzania to Japan
OPERATORS
Swoop Aero: the Australian company taking medical drone logistics to the Pacific and Africa
OPERATORS
Aviant: the Norwegian operator building BVLOS medical logistics in Nordic conditions
OPERATORS
DroneUp and the Walmart partnership: what US retail drone delivery looks like in practice