Amazon Unveils Next-Gen Drone for Deliveries

Amazon has announced a new drone for deliveries, the MK30, offering a slew of improvements over its predecessor.

Amazon has been investing in drone deliveries in an effort to improve customer service, improve delivery speed, and reduce costs. The company plans to introduce the MK30 in 2024 in areas where it is testing its drone delivery program.

The company outlined the benefits of the new model in a blog post:

We’re now introducing our next generation delivery drone: the MK30. Due to come into service in 2024, this drone will be lighter and smaller than the MK27-2, the drone that will be making deliveries in Lockeford and College Station. The MK30’s increased range, expanded temperature tolerance, safety-critical features, and new capability to fly in light rain will enable customers to choose drone delivery more often.

The company has also worked to reduce the noise profile of the new drone, so as not to disturb customers and neighborhoods:

Reducing the noise signature of our drones is an important engineering challenge that our team is working on. Our drones fly hundreds of feet in the air, well above people and structures. Even when they descend to deliver packages, our drones are generally quieter than a range of sounds you would commonly hear in a typical neighborhood. Still, Prime Air’s Flight Science team has created new custom-designed propellers that will reduce the MK30’s perceived noise by another 25%. That’s a game-changer, and we’re very excited about it.