Amazon wants air space designated for drones

The plans essentially show a “superhighway” for drones in the sky, in which all drones would have to fly different altitudes depending on their speed and would all have the ability to communicate and avoid other drones in the sky.

The company thinks that the portion of air between 200ft and 400ft from the ground should be reserved for high-speed drones, with an extra 100ft as a no-fly zone to avoid any contact with traditional passenger and cargo planes.

(Bloomberg)-The first wave of long-range commercial drones should be allowed to operate in a narrow, low-altitude band and must agree to be tracked, according to Amazon.com Inc.’s vision of the future.

High-speed drones would stay between 200 feet and 400 feet, while local traffic and slower drones would fly below them, he said. NASA has in turn invited ideas on a brand new “Unmanned Aerial System Traffic Management” from interested entities.

Details about how Amazon’s proposed delivery drones may work have been published by the US Patent Office earlier this year. The proposal is part of a corporate push to normalize commercial drone use as the Federal Aviation Authority’s regulations for commercial drones fail to adapt quickly enough for most companies’ tastes. The drone’s operations will be limited and drones are not permitted within 5 miles from an airport.

Liberty Mutual did not disclose the type of drones they will use, or the manufacturer of the aircrafts.

Amazon has a plan for drone superhighways in the sky.

UAVs equipped with Global Positioning System tracking allows them to pinpoint their location in real-time and in relation to all other drones around them. The patent opens up a lot more information on the proposed drone delivery service, including the fact that the drones will “talk to each other” to ensure a successful delivery.

But in order to make it happen, Amazon says countries should set aside airspace just for small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS), a.k.a. drones.

Like Google, Amazon believes there doesn’t need to be a single air-traffic operator for drones. Central computers would act as regional traffic managers, running drones’ flight plans against other data-weather, flight restrictions, other drones’ plans-to determine if a route is safe.

The proposal sees airspace below 500 feet, which is now largely unregulated but off limits to drones, divided into three distinct bands. It could be important as drones become more common. (122 m), no faster than 100 miles per hour (161 Km/h), and remain within the pilot’s line of sight. That’s the big question facing the online retailer as it embarks on an ambitious effort to create a new aerial fleet of delivery drones that can buzz packages from distribution centers to doorsteps in a matter of minutes.