Google drone package deliveries to arrive by 2017

Google’s restructure under the new Alphabet umbrella company could be the start of exciting new things for each of the brand’s sub-divisions. Today David Vos, leader of Google’s Project Wing, announced that the company plans to have a drone delivery service up and running come 2017.

The company is said to be in talks with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Department of Transportation (DoT) to come up with a drone registration and air traffic control system that would enable safer mass flight. The system will apparently use cellular and internet technology to coordinate flights at altitudes under 500 feet (152 meters). Drones over a certain size are likely to require registration with the DoT and enforcement could begin before the end of the year.

“Our goal is to have commercial business up and running in 2017,” – David Vos, Project Wing

Project Wing is part of the Google X research group and was announced back in August 2014, but the group had been working on the technology for two years before then. Project Wing showcased a large prototype drone in Australia at the time, but new designs are apparently in the works.

This isn’t the first time that we have heard about flying deliveries. Amazon unveiled its own plans for flying drone package deliveries back in 2013. Other companies are also planning similar drone based businesses, but these are not expected to take off until rules and regulations regarding commercial drones have been finalized and published. This is expected to happen sometime in early 2016.

There are clearly some technical and regulatory hurdles still left to overcome, but packages could be arriving on your doorstep via drone in the not too distant future.