Credit: Drone Delivery Canada
With most Canadians and people across the world relying on delivery services, Drone Delivery Canada Corporation has announced that it will begin the commercial testing of the Condor.
Drone Delivery Canada Corp. is a drone technology company focused on the design, development and implementation of its proprietary logistics software platform, using drones. The Condor has 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. 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.
This phase of testing for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flight is taking place at the Foremost UAS Test Range and will test the long-range and heavy-lift capabilities of the Condor. The Foremost Test Range is a permanent Restricted Airspace area for flying Unmanned Aircraft Systems, located in Southeast Alberta. The test range provides 700 square nautical miles (2400 square kilometres) of airspace designated for drone operations up to 18,000 feet above sea level.
“Market response to the Condor has been overwhelmingly positive. With the COVID-19 situation, interested customers have asked us to fast-track the commercialization process which we are now doing. The capabilities of the Condor simply address many social (medical, pharmaceutical, remote communities, Indigenous communities, humanitarian aid, etc) and economic (mining, oil & gas, courier, inspection, etc) use-cases being requested by DDC’s customers. Drone delivery is also an ideal solution for limiting person-to-person contact in the current pandemic situation. These requests are happening globally,” said Michael Zahra, President and CEO. “Additionally, DDC’s patented FLYTE system is airframe agnostic, meaning it can easily be integrated onto future DDC or third-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.”