Zipline Drones Surpass Flying More Than 100 Million Miles

Zipline on Monday announced that its drones have now flown over 100 million miles, which the company says makes it the “largest autonomous logistics network on Earth.” The aircraft fly without a pilot, but the company enlisted Ben Morris, its operational leader and a former officer in the British Royal Air Force, to break down exactly what 100 million miles looks like.

In a video released on Monday, Morris said the distance is equivalent to flying 200 lunar round trips, undertaking 4,000 journeys around Earth, or driving on every road in the United States 24 times. But the drones avoid the pitfalls of cars or trucks—eliminating tens of thousands of tons of carbon emissions, dodging numerous potential collisions, and alleviating gridlock on the ground.

Zipline on Monday also reported more than 22 million vaccine doses delivered and 1.4 million deliveries executed across four continents. Its operations span infrastructure-rich countries like the U.S. and rural, hard-to-reach areas such as Sub-Saharan Africa, including countries like Rwanda and Ghana. A Zipline spokesperson told FLYING it expects to launch in Mesquite, Texas, soon.

“At scale, we get clearer roads and cleaner skies, more time with our families, and more space to play,” Morris said.

Zipline in recent months has introduced new advancements to ramp up deliveries. Its Platform 2 (P2) system, for example, launched in March 2023 and facilitates precision deliveries with a specially designed tethered “droid,” which can be directly deployed to a customer’s doorstep or backyard. P2 rolled out in January with its first delivery to an unspecified fire department.

In December 2023, the FAA authorized Zipline for beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations in Salt Lake City and Bentonville, Arkansas, where it is partnering with Intermountain Healthcare and Walmart, respectively. That approval permits remote operators to stand in for visual observers along the drones’ routes—with fewer assets to manage, the result for drone delivery providers is often larger service areas.

Zipline commands a leading position in the drone delivery sector, but others, such as Alphabet’s Wing, are in the race. In July, the FAA lifted key drone delivery restrictions in Dallas-Fort Worth, where both Zipline and Wing fly. Amazon’s Prime Air has not fared as well, facing noise complaints and brittle demand. In January, Prime Air temporarily paused service in College Station, Texas, and Arizona.

A decade ago, drone delivery was in its infancy. But Zipline’s 100 million miles signal that the industry is beginning to blossom—and the FAA is tasked with regulating it.

As of March, the regulator has registered more than one million drones, with about 4 in 10 authorized for commercial purposes. One of its recent moves, the implementation of the Remote ID rule, mandates that those drones transmit location, identification, and other information. The agency is working to develop comprehensive regulations for BVLOS operations, which could open the skies even further.

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