Drone delivery deployment happens in fits and starts. There are, after all, a number of hurdles — both regulatory and residential — a company has to clear. That’s why all parties tend to be slow and deliberate. While such slowed innovation isn’t always a sign of struggle, firms have certainly dealt with those, as well — including Amazon, which initially stumbled out the gate.
Almost exactly a month after announcing its plans to bring deliveries to the Central Californian town of Lockwood, the company is unveiling another expansion. Later this year, Amazon will be adding Texas A&M University’s home base of College Station to the list. The company lists partnerships with the school and city as a key reason for the choice.
“Amazon’s new facility presents a tremendous opportunity for College Station to be at the forefront of the development of drone delivery technology,” said Mayor Karl Mooney in an official release. “We look forward to partnering with Amazon and Texas A&M and are confident that Amazon will be a productive, conscientious, and accountable participant in our community.”
There’s not much in the way of additional details here, but the past several months have found Texas becoming something of a hotbed for these very early-stage drone deliveries. In March, Israeli startup Flytex announced that it’s piloting deliveries in Granbury, a town of 10,000 located in the greater Dallas/Forth Worth metroplex. The following month, Alphabet-owned Wing expanded its operations into the nearby towns Frisco and Little Elm.
While Amazon appears to lack Wing’s head start, the company has one very import thing the others don’t: a massive built-in retail operation.
