Drone Delivery Canada (DDC) has announced that it will begin the commercialization of the Condor, a delivery drone with a lifting capability of 180kgs (400lbs) of payload, a travel range of 200kms and an operating speed of 120kph. The multi-package payload compartment is designed to carry approximately 20 cubic feet of cargo.
According to a company press release:
“This phase of Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flight testing will take place at the Foremost UAS Test Range in Alberta in the summer of 2020 under a Special Flight Operations Certificate (SFOC), anticipated in Q2 2020. The Company is in discussions with various potential customers, who all have expressed strong interest in the Condor once finalizing commercial testing in Foremost.
“Market response to the Condor has been overwhelmingly strong. The capabilities of the Condor simply address many social (medical, pharmaceutical, remote communities, humanitarian aid, etc) and economic (mining, oil & gas, courier, etc) use-cases being requested by DDC’s customers. These requests are happening globally,” said Michael Zahra, President and CEO. “Based on direct market feedback, this will be a game-changer for the Company, our customers and the industry overall. Additionally, DDC’s patented FLYTE system is airframe agnostic, meaning it can easily be integrated onto future DDC or 3rd party drones and rotary or fixed-wing manned aircraft to allow the Company to offer a strong technology roadmap for even heavier-lift and longer-range drones in the future.”
The Condor measures 22 feet long, 5 feet wide and 7 feet tall. It has a rotor diameter of approximately 20 feet and is capable of vertical takeoff and landing. It is equipped with DDC’s proprietary FLYTE management system which is the same platform used in all of DDC’s cargo delivery drones. The company anticipates seeing operations start in Q1 with revenue generating agreements.
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