--- description: Federal regulators on Thursday granted Amazon approval to test its "Prime Air" unmanned aircraft drones. title: Amazon's Drone Delivery Dreams Just Took a Step Closer to Reality image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta88eb365ccd8b1ad/6987847a0b72e3d0786de44f/amazon-drone.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Amazon's Drone Delivery Dreams Just Took a Step Closer to Reality  by [Alex Fitzpatrick](/author/alex-fitzpatrick/)  ## Alex Fitzpatrick Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 19, 2015 8:43 PM CUT  Amazon's 'Prime Air' unmanned aircraft project prototype. Amazon's 'Prime Air' unmanned aircraft project prototype.Amazon/AP  by [Alex Fitzpatrick](/author/alex-fitzpatrick/)  ## Alex Fitzpatrick Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 19, 2015 8:43 PM CUT Amazon’s hopes of delivering shipments to customers via drones got a little more real Thursday as federal regulators [granted](http://www.faa.gov/news/updates/?newsId=82225&cid=TW303 "undefined") the company approval to test its unmanned aircraft. The Federal Aviation Administration gave Amazon’s drones what’s called an experimental airworthiness certificate, which lets the company fly its aircraft for research, testing and crew training purposes. Amazon must follow a handful of rules laid out by the FAA: It must keep flights at 400 feet or below, only fly in daylight, and pilots must hold at least a private pilot’s certificate, among other stipulations. The company also has to report a wealth of data about its drone flights to the agency every month. However, the FAA is not yet allowing Amazon to conduct commercial drone flights. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos first said back in late 2013 that he wants to [use drones to deliver packages directly to customers’ doorsteps](http://techland.time.com/2013/12/01/amazon-bezos-drones/ "undefined") in a program dubbed “Prime Air.” The FAA’s Thursday decision comes after Amazon [petitioned](http://time.com/2976103/amazon-drones-prime-air-test-flights/ "undefined") the agency last July to let it test its drones. In February, the FAA proposed new commercial drone rules that would make it significantly easier to legally operate a drone for money in the U.S., an activity that currently requires case-by-case approval from the agency. However, [the plan would require](http://time.com/3711041/amazon-faa-drones/ "undefined") drone pilots to fly their aircraft with “unaided vision” and avoid flying over people, rules that would seem to preclude Amazon’s drone delivery concept. The FAA is expected to vote on those new rules later this year. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3751696/amazon-drones/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3751696/amazon-drones/"},"headline":"Amazon's Drone Delivery Dreams Just Took a Step Closer to Reality","datePublished":"2015-03-19T20:43:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:04:42.272Z","description":"But don't expect a drone on your doorstep anytime soon","url":"https://time.com/3751696/amazon-drones/","keywords":["Tech","Amazon","Jeff Bezos","Drones","FAA"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta88eb365ccd8b1ad/6987847a0b72e3d0786de44f/amazon-drone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alex Fitzpatrick","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alex-fitzpatrick/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta88eb365ccd8b1ad/6987847a0b72e3d0786de44f/amazon-drone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Amazone Drone Delivery","caption":"Amazone Drone Delivery","creditText":"Amazon/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3751696/amazon-drones/","name":"Amazon's Drone Delivery Dreams Just Took a Step Closer to Reality"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Amazon Requests FAA Permission for More Drone Research","description":"Amazon wants to improve its proposed delivery drones — and wants some space from the FAA to do so.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/KXGwam49/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-07-11T17:13:42.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KXGwam49.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3751696/amazon-drones/","duration":"PT1M35S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3751696/amazon-drones/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"See The Unique Way Amazon Ships This Teddy Bear","description":"Go Behind the Scenes at Amazon to see how the products you buy make it to the shipping truck","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/IY8KG0y3/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-12-01T04:19:45.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/IY8KG0y3.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3751696/amazon-drones/","duration":"PT2M54S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3751696/amazon-drones/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```