Don’t call it a drone: Zipline’s uncrewed aircraft wants to reinvent retail
- Ars visits a zipline delivery service that’s deploying in more locations soon.
Tim Stevens – Apr 8, 2025 9:00 AM
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The inner portion of the Zipline P2 is lowered to the ground on a tether, facing into the wind, with a small propeller at the back. Doors on the bottom open when it touches the ground, depositing the cargo. Credit: Tim Stevens
The skies around Dallas are about to get a lot more interesting. No, DFW airport isn’t planning any more expansions, nor does American Airlines have any more retro liveries to debut. This will be something different, something liable to make all the excitement around the supposed New Jersey drones look a bit quaint.
Zipline is launching its airborne delivery service for real, rolling it out in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Mesquite ahead of a gradual spread that, if all goes according to plan, will also see its craft landing in Seattle before the end of the year. These automated drones can be loaded in seconds, carry small packages for miles, and deposit them with pinpoint accuracy at the end of a retractable tether.
It looks and sounds like the future, but this launch has been a decade in the making. Zipline has already flown more than 1.4 million deliveries and covered over 100 million miles, yet it feels like things are just getting started.
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I was especially interest in their description of delivering blood in remote places in Africa. That could be used to deliver organs with less risk and fewer delays. A lot can be improved if their service is as promised. I imagine that some day, I would be able to ship stuff from my doorstep. Instacart, DoorDash, and UberEats may be in trouble.
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