Cargo drones: paving the way for eVTOLs

Autonomous cargo delivery continues to evolve. What are the practicalities and latest developments from a regulatory perspective? Mark Broadbent reports

The use of commercial drones – remotely piloted or uncrewed air systems – in civil aerospace has flourished in recent years, with the 2010s seeing considerable technological improvements and cost reductions in small drones.

An extensive ecosystem of sector specialists has since emerged, including hardware, software and service providers, payload developers, data analysts and training organisations.

Small drones, especially multicopters, are now routinely used for all kinds of work across multiple industries. According to Drone Industry Insights, there are six broad use-cases: mapping/surveying, inspection, photography/filming, tracking, spraying/dispersing and cargo delivery. Drones support industrial maintenance and infrastructure monitoring, precision agriculture, aerial filming, and mining/quarrying. Emergency services use them for operational support, from tackling wildfires to searching for suspects or missing persons. They support telecommunications and even undertake surveys for insurance companies.

Airborne drop-off

Perhaps it is cargo delivery – a drone swooping in to drop off an online purchase or deliver medical supplies – that most powerfully symbolises commercial drones’ rapid move into the aviation mainstream.

Here is a small indication of that rapid growth. Back in April 2024, the US logistics company Zipline announced it had completed one million commercial drone deliveries (transporting ten million individual items) to customers worldwide using its Platform 1 (P1) and Platform 2 (P2) autonomous systems. Some 70% of those deliveries have been made since 2022, the company said. Zipline delivers goods for Walmart in the United States, agriculture and animal health products in Africa, and food in Japan. Fresh produce accounts for the bulk of Zipline’s deliveries in the US. The company said in April 2024 that its latest P2 is “expected to serve more than 30 million people in ten states within the United States over the next few years”. Panera Bread, Memorial Hermann Health System (the largest not-for-profit health system in southeast Texas) and Jet’s Pizza plan to use P2 to deliver products in the greater Seattle, Houston and Detroit areas respectively, Zipline announced.

Elsewhere, it has become common to see announcements about drone use for time-sensitive medical deliveries (PPE, treatments, medicines, emergency equipment such as defibrillators), or undertaking postal deliveries. In the UK, Skyfarer partnered with University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust and Medical Logistics UK in October 2022-March 2023 to use drones for ad-hoc medical deliveries between the Trust’s sites. A Swedish company, Everdrone, has undertaken projects with authorities in the Swedish region of Västra Götaland, the Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex and the Greater Copenhagen Fire Department.

The Scottish Highlands and Islands has become a focal point for commercial drone delivery trials. Orkney became the first UK location to receive mail by drone in 2023, under the Orkney I-Port Project. This involved Loganair flying letters and small parcels to Kirkwall for delivery by road to Stromness. Skyports Drone Services then transported the cargo to Royal Mail staff on the islands of Graemsay and Hoy, with postal workers then carrying out their usual last-mile deliveries by van. In September 2024, it was announced that Skyports and the Royal Mail had extended the I-Port project until February 2026. Separately, there is a partnership between Argyll and Bute Council, Skyports and Royal Mail (among other partners) to explore how drones can benefit remote communities in Scotland’s Inner Hebrides archipelago.

‘Inflection point’

Small multicopters transporting light loads is the common thread in all these drone delivery initiatives and demonstrations, but other projects are also investigating the movement of more substantial payloads using relatively larger systems.

In the introduction to its December 2023 report Heavy-Lift Cargo Drones Growth Opportunities, consultancy firm Frost & Sullivan said: “The heavy-lift cargo drone market is undergoing an inflection point, generating substantial growth from the increased demand for efficient and scalable logistics solutions [‘heavy lift’ in the context of small drones is generally taken to be a payload of up to 100kg]. Manufacturers’ primary focus in this dynamic market is pushing the boundaries of payload capacity and flight endurance to redefine the possibilities for transporting heavy and bulky goods. Market participants that can achieve this while maintaining a comprehensive cost perspective in line with the economic demands of the logistics industry will gain a competitive advantage.”

An eye-catching example, disclosed in August 2024, was Danish renewables specialist Ørsted trialling the use of a heavy-lift drone to transport what it called in a statement “critical evacuation and safety equipment” to all 94 wind turbines in its Borssele offshore wind farm in the North Sea. The company used a 2.6m-wingspan drone, capable of lifting 100kg, in the trial. It flew back and forth from a supply vessel directly to the top of the nacelle on each turbine. Ørsted said the delivery flights took about four minutes per turbine which, it noted, enabled deliveries to be completed “10-15 times faster” than the traditional method using surface transport.

The Pelican

Several drone developers have produced fixed-wing cargo delivery drones that have much greater payload capability than the small multicopters.

California-based Pyka has developed the Pelican Cargo, “a large-scale autonomous electric cargo aircraft”, which the company describes as being “built for remote off-airport operations”. Pelican Cargo has an 181kg payload capacity and 321km range.

Pyka announced in 2024 that it had delivered the first of three examples of the system to AFWERX, the innovation arm of the USAF and a directorate within the Air Force Research Laboratory, for the Agility Prime programme. Separately, a Pyka drone is to be used by the Royal Mail and Skyports on a pilot project in the southwest of England, as part of the wider partnership between these two organisations.

Another developer, Dronamics, has its Black Swan drone. According to the company, the system will be capable of carrying 350kg of cargo and have a 2,400km range.

‘Jeep of the skies’

Windracers, based in Southampton, UK, describes its ULTRA (uncrewed low-cost transport) fixed-wing cargo drone as a “low-cost self-flying cargo aircraft”. The company told our sister title AIR International in 2024: “Windracers has moved quickly from a concept aircraft that had flown notable missions in the UK into a fully developed business that is manufacturing at scale.” It is focusing on “increasing reliability at scale while lowering the cost of operation, building in greater levels of autonomy in our operations, including swarm capability, and optimising to have best-in-class multi-mission capability.”

The company said it has adopted and implemented an automotive manufacturing approach to achieve the required levels of quality, reliability and low cost. It has partnered with Purdue University AIDA and the University of Bristol for the incorporation of swarm technology. It is also involved in the Sustainable Aviation Test Environment (SATE) project at Kirkwall in the Orkneys. SATE, itself part of the UKRI Future Flight Challenge, explores how a commercial drone service can transport payloads reliably, cost-effectively and sustainably to remote communities.

January 2025 saw Windracers launch its ULTRA Mk2. The robust 10m aircraft features two 50hp Hirth F23 engines, doubling the power output of its predecessor. ULTRA Mk2 also provides a significantly enhanced payload of 150kg while halving fuel costs per kilogramme, according to the manufacturer.

Black Swan

Bulgaria-based Dronamics is another fixed-wing cargo drone developer and its Black Swan system has a 16m wingspan, 8m length and 4m height. A Dronamics spokesperson told Vertiports: “In 2024, we advanced our flight test campaign and continued the production of Black Swans at our R&D facility in Bulgaria. Currently, our production team is finalising the construction of our third full-scale Black Swan, which will soon begin flight testing, while the fourth Black Swan is already underway.”

What next? Droneports

When asked what major milestones were planned for 2025, Dronamics responded: “We’re very close to launching commercial operations and we’ve already started the process of establishing our first droneport. It will be in Europe, where we have a license to fly. The Mediterranean is expected to be our first market.”

Greece’s Hellenic Post has signed an agreement with Dronamics to begin ‘middle-mile’ parcel deliveries. The Dronamics spokesperson said: “We are looking at starting operations from Greece for its strategic location and market potential, with its geography marked by multiple thriving island communities. One of our primary objectives is to establish connections between northern Greece, Athens and the islands. Looking ahead, we plan to expand into the Middle East, supported by partnerships with companies like Aramex, Qatar Airways Cargo and Abu Dhabi’s Strategic Development Fund. We’re working on plans for our first manufacturing facility for mass production of the Black Swan.”

Exactly what infrastructure requirements will there be for the Black Swan? “The infrastructure requirements for droneports are minimal as the Black Swan needs only 400m for take-off and landing, making it versatile and adaptable. To begin with, we are targeting existing infrastructures because this allows quicker implementation and commencement of operations. However, our plan to open new routes and reach under-served communities means we will be also developing the droneport infrastructure from scratch in certain areas. Our goal is to establish droneports all around the world that will serve as gateways for cargo. Ultimately, there are around 50,000 airfields worldwide which could receive and send cargo with an aircraft like the Black Swan.”

Regulatory landscape

Operational trials of cargo delivery drones take place in segregated airspace in remote areas or where there is relatively uncongested airspace. This is entirely logical as the key players in this nascent industry sector (drone developers, service providers, end-users, regulators) together explore the logistics and operational impacts of these new systems in order to build a knowledge base.

However, the airspace restrictions introduced by air navigation service providers for drone trials are typically only in place for a restricted period. Making cargo drone operations more permanent and extending usage will inevitably involve significant regulatory work.

Clearance for beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) operations is crucial. Dronamics explained: “Drone regulations are critical enablers for safe drone operations, especially at scale, when multiple airspace users, whether manned or unmanned, share the same airspace and infrastructure.”

In 2023 Dronamics became the first cargo drone airline to obtain both IATA and ICAO designator codes: “When Dronamics was founded nearly a decade ago, there was no regulatory framework for cargo drones. Today, as the first licensed cargo drone airline in Europe, we benefit from advancements like the EU single transport market, which simplifies cross-border operations with one licence. We actively participate in shaping standards by working with global industrial and regulatory bodies such as IATA and JARUS [Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems] and through frameworks like SORA [Specific Operations Risk Assessment] – SORA enables us to meticulously plan safe operations, ensuring we maintain credibility and safety.”

UTM technology

On July 30, 2024, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authorised two cargo drone delivery companies, Zipline and Wing Aviation, to deliver packages by drone while keeping their systems safely separated from other aircraft using unmanned aircraft system traffic management (UTM) technology. An FAA statement said: “Using UTM services, companies can share data and planned flight routes with other authorised airspace users. This allows the operators to safely organise and manage drone flights around each other in shared airspace. Industry has created the market and technology, and the agency has worked with them on creative solutions to ensure operations can be done safely. UTM services are a clear example of this innovative approach.”

Regulatory delays

Introducing UTM technology is only part of a much wider regulatory picture for cargo drones, however.

Whenever the FAA intends to introduce a new regulation, it publishes an NPRM (Notice of Proposed Rulemaking). Under the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, the FAA was directed to establish a performance-based framework for BVLOS operations of unmanned aircraft systems. An NPRM for beyond-visual-line-of-sight operations was required to have been published by the end of September 2024 (a final rule would follow within 20 months).

However, as an October 21, 2024 letter from the US House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure noted: “The deadline to issue an NPRM has passed. It is now our understanding that the proposed rule may not be issued until January 2025, at the earliest. It is concerning [that] the failure to comply with statutory instructions may also result in the delay of a final rule.

“Providing a clear and predictable regulatory pathway for American innovators to integrate advanced UAS operations into the National Airspace System is critical to ensuring safety and our competitive edge in this growing sector. The timely publication of a NPRM is a crucial first step to ensuring the agency has the benefit of public comment to craft a decisive, yet workable, final rule. A final rule will help unlock the full benefits of BVLOS operations across local communities and our national economy. Furthermore, a timely rulemaking will build on years of work by the FAA, the industry, conventional airspace users and other stakeholders to ensure the necessary standards and processes are in place to safely foster advanced drone operations into US skies. The Department of Transportation and the FAA must work in a safe and expeditious manner to issue this critical rulemaking.”

In the UK, the Civil Aviation Authority plans to authorise routine drone BVLOS operations by 2027. A March 2024 Department for Transport action plan said: “BVLOS operations will be routine across the country, using significant blocks of controlled, uncontrolled and service supported airspace.”

In short, the bigger regulatory picture for cargo drones is yet to settle. Dronamics told Vertiports: “Regulations pose a dynamic challenge, which we meet by actively engaging with global authorities to align our operations with evolving frameworks. Through these efforts, we ensure compliance while also driving innovation in a way that supports scalable, cross-border operations. As regulations evolve, we advocate for standardised global rules to unlock the full potential of international drone logistics.”