The reason for drone transport has not been realized

Delivery by airplane drone is a great idea, but according to NASA, this service is still a prospect in the future. The US Aerospace Agency has launched a series of issues that drone aircraft face when operating in a realistic environment.

NASA knows very well about current air traffic congestion. For a drone carrier network, drone aircraft flying below 400ft (~ 122m) will be controlled via an ATC air traffic control system. The system can automatically and take care of the elements of weather, air traffic, obstacles etc.

However, a strong wind can cause collisions and damage the aircraft. Therefore, the aircraft needs to be equipped with a weather monitoring system that increases complexity. In addition, maintaining the separation between slow drone aircraft, obstacles and manned aircraft will be very difficult, especially in urban areas.

Although Google and other companies have proposed crash avoidance systems for drone, there are no plans to integrate them into the ATC system. In addition, the drone aircraft can only operate within the system to avoid other prohibited areas, airports and other controlled airspace.

The last issue is the acceptance of the community . Does the operation of the airborne drone sky affect the lives of people? Noise emissions and safety will be important factors to consider. In addition, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) must ensure that drone aircraft will not be criminally requisitioned for malicious purposes.

Even so, NASA is optimistic about the commercial interests of drone aircraft in less populated areas. The FAA has partially authorized the use of drone aircraft for crop harvesting or pipeline exploration. However, NASA believes it will take at least five years before cargo delivery to sparsely populated areas is realized. In densely populated areas, this service is not feasible in the near future.