While companies like Amazon and United Parcel Service are already testing out drone delivery services, the Federal Aviation Administration doesn't expect authorization of widespread drone flights until 2020, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Here are three things to know.
- The Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics, an outside technical advisory organization for the FAA, launched efforts to define the types of collision-avoidance systems needed for an effective drone flight system, which could take up to three years. The group must lay out the technical terms for ground-based radars, airborne collision-avoidance sensors and advanced communication links, according to the report. The RTCA estimates the research and development of these technologies won't be finished until 2020.
- At present, the FAA allows for the routine commercial use of small drones that fly no higher than 400 feet, as long as the aviation device remains within sight of its operator.
- Companies with drone investments — like Amazon, Google-parent Alphabet and UPS — are lobbying Capitol Hill to speed up the regulatory actions needed to approve drone deliveries.
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