Amazon will launch its Prime Air drone-delivery service in Lockeford, which will be an ongoing service for the small town just east of Lodi.
The service cuts delivery time in Lockeford from two days to an hour.
It’s a service Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) is testing in the small Sacramento Valley town in preparation for scaling it to larger areas.
The Seattle-based company is building out a Lockeford operations center for the drone service, which will start later this year.
The custom-designed Amazon drones can fly about 15 miles and carry up to 5 pounds in a package the size of a shoebox, an Amazon spokesperson said. The company builds its own drones.
The drones will deliver packages to a customer’s backyard, releasing it from a low hover, and then return to the center to get another load.
Lockeford is in northern San Joaquin County surrounded by wineries. It has a population of 3,500 and was home to aviation pioneer Weldon Cooke, grandson of the founder of Lockeford.
The drones fly under 400 feet, but they can move up to 50 miles per hour.
Customers in Lockeford can see what is eligible for drone delivery on the site. The service is free. Amazon has been working on, testing and improving drone delivery technology for years with hundreds of scientists, engineers, aerospace professionals and others.
For the Prime Air service, the company has built an onboard sense-and-avoid system that helps the drone avoid stationary objects, like light poles and chimneys, as well as moving objects, like other aircraft, people and pets.
Amazon said it is working with the Federal Aviation Administration as well as officials in Lockeford for permission to make the deliveries. Prime Air has earned an FAA air carrier certificate for its delivery service.
