College Station leaders to reject Amazon drone expansion [Video]

Although Amazon looks forward to expanding its drone delivery service, citizens and College Station City Council members are calling for the drone facility to find a new home that won’t disturb the surrounding area.

During Thursday’s council meeting, councilors discussed Amazon Prime Air and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations. In May 2024, Amazon submitted a request to the FAA for delivery drones to operate beyond a visual line of sight, meaning drones could deliver to more neighborhoods than before. The FAA requested public comments regarding Amazon Prime Air drone delivery operations with the deadline being extended to July 12.

“We submitted crucial engineering information to the FAA, including our onboard detect-and-avoid capabilities. This included how our system was designed, how it is operated, how it is maintained, and ultimately how we validated that the system performs to specified requirements,” the Amazon request said. “After reviewing this information and observing the technology in action …