How do delivery drones work?

Delivery drones are small electric aircraft that carry packages from a hub, such as a store or warehouse, straight to a customer's home. You order in an app, the drone flies itself to your address, and your package arrives from the sky, often in well under an hour.

How they work

• Autopilot. The flight is mostly automated. Wing says a single flight needs no human control; its pilots supervise many flights at once from remote operations centers, watching weather and air traffic.
• Sensing. Onboard cameras and machine learning help drones spot people, animals, obstacles and other aircraft. Amazon says its MK30 can steer around things like clotheslines that satellite maps miss.
• Drop-off. Most drones don't land. Wing's drone checks the drop zone, then lowers the order on a tether into a space about the size of a picnic blanket. Zipline's P2 hovers high above and lowers a small robotic "droid" on a line to a spot as small as a patio table.

Who's flying them

• Wing, owned by Alphabet, launched the first US commercial home drone delivery in 2019 in Christiansburg, Virginia, and works with Walmart and DoorDash.
• Zipline started with medical deliveries, now serves more than 5,000 healthcare facilities, and began US home delivery in 2025 with partners including Walmart and Chipotle.
• Amazon Prime Air delivers packages up to 5 lb and says it aims to reach nearly 500 US cities and towns by the end of 2026.

Rules and limits

• Certification. In the US, drone delivery companies must earn the FAA's Part 135 air carrier certificate, plus permission to fly beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS).
• Altitude. Delivery flights stay below 400 feet.
• Payload and weather. Packages are limited to a few pounds, and while drones handle wind and moderate rain, bad weather can still ground them.

Delivery drones are one of the most visible kinds of robots working in public, alongside robotaxis.