Zipline: the delivery drone with a parachute, and where it has used one

Safety is the top priority for Zipline, and we appreciate the opportunity to help the public better understand how our technology works.

Precision Delivery Specs

Precision delivery (urban/suburban):

Payload: 8 pounds

Service Range: 10 miles service radius, or 24 miles one way

Cruise speed: 70 miles per hour

Loading system: Easy-to-use Zipping Dropbox to load and send orders, or zero-infrastructure drone loading.

Delivery mechanism: Tethered precision delivery from roughly 300 feet above ground level

8 feet long, with roughly 8-foot wingspan

Weight: 55 pounds unladen, 63 pounds laden.

Weather capabilities

Zipline’s drones are very capable fliers, delivering in rain, wind, thunderstorms, extreme cold, and other conditions that would normally slow down automotive transport.

Zipline tests in far more extreme conditions than its aircraft encounter in commercial operations, and even has a dedicated fleet of storm-chasing rigs that seek out the worst weather of the season to continuously test, validate, and expand its capabilities.

Zipline has a dedicated meteorology team that monitors conditions and ensures the fleet operates safely.

Zipline maintains a strict safety posture, so that even if wind picks up or weather turns bad during a delivery, it would still be well within the system’s capabilities.

Safety System

Zipline operates with the approval of the FAA and has secured the most comprehensive approvals for drone delivery in the United States.

Zipline uses a robust safety approach for each flight that includes strategic route design, redundant flight critical systems, hundreds of safety checks before and during each flight, and sophisticated airspace awareness tools.

Zipline’s aircraft include redundant flight critical systems and have no single points of failure for flight critical systems. Zipline engineers have collectively spent more than a million hours testing and improving the safety of our system, including hardware, software and operations.

FlightIQ is our advanced onboard autonomy and perception suite that lets Zipline’s drones fly, navigate, and deliver smartly and safely.

Zipline, alongside other operators, is a pioneer in the use of Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM), which lets multiple operators automatically reserve flight routes and airspace, part of its redundant safety systems to avoid conflicts in shared airspace.

Zipline has flown more than 140 million commercial autonomous miles since 2016, the same as driving on every road in America more than 33 times, without injury. According to NHTSA data, every 140 million miles of driving on U.S. roads in 2024 on average resulted in more than 700 crashes, about 100 injuries, and at least one fatality.

Parachute

During flight, Zipline drones complete over 500 safety checks per second. If a mid-flight safety check finds a challenge or issue, the drone automatically determines the safest course of action. Depending on severity, that may include immediately returning to a dock or flagging that a part needs attention from the maintenance team.

If the aircraft determines it needs to immediately exit the airspace for any reason, the aircraft will deploy its parachute to come down to the ground, and a local Zipline team will immediately dispatch to retrieve the drone.

As an added safety measure, in the rare case a parachute is deployed, the aircraft propellers will immediately stop spinning and the aircraft will emit an audible alert to notify anyone in the vicinity.

Pod safety

Pods use our FlightIQ safety system to avoid obstacles in real-time and safely make deliveries. This includes distinguishing safe terrain from bodies of water or other inappropriate delivery locations. If the system determines no safe location is available, it will return to a dock.

If a customer were to pull on the line or tangle it, the pod and drone would automatically and safely detach from each other, leaving the customer with both the pod and its line, and Zipline’s local response team would be immediately notified of the incident.

As an added safety feature and redundancy, the pod has its own safety parachute that it can deploy if a flight issue occurred while the pod was unstowed and too high to safely land.

Retrieval

Zipline personnel monitor every flight. In the rare event a drone or delivery pod requires retrieval, a local team is immediately alerted and dispatched.

All drones and pods have contact and safety information posted on their exterior in case someone encounters the aircraft before the team arrives.

Zipline meets with and educates local first responders on the system and our operations as part of our ongoing commitment to the communities we serve. We work directly with those teams as appropriate for specific circumstances.

Sound

Zipline’s drones stay approximately 300ft above the ground during flight and delivery. By staying high up during delivery, Zipline drones stay significantly quieter than getting closer to the ground.

Zipline's custom propellers produce a softer, steadier sound that blends more naturally into neighborhoods than standard designs.

Zipline continues to invest significant time and resources into improving its sound profile, and has made perceivable improvements to its sound profile since the launch of its home delivery service.

A video showing how its propellers have developed over time is available here.

In a recent blog, Zipline outlined how it reduces noise using a variety of hardware and software techniques, minimizing the perceived loudness.

Zipline continues to ship new improvements to its fleet that have not yet been independently assessed. Its most recent update includes dynamic flight trajectories, which improve the efficiency of Zipline’s fixed-wing forward flight, saving energy and further reducing noise during transit.

Privacy and Security

Zipline aircraft are purpose-built for delivery, and use our FlightIQ safety system, of onboard sensors, including visual sensors, weather sensors, inertial measurement units and ADS-B receivers to fly, navigate, and deliver safely.

Zipline aircraft use their sensors much like backup cameras or lane-assist cameras in a car: they help the drone avoid obstacles and safely navigate its immediate surroundings.

Pods are equipped with cameras that point straight down so they can avoid obstacles like trees and power lines during descent and choose a safe delivery location.

All cameras are in a fixed position and cannot pan, tilt, or zoom.

There is no live video feed or transmission for any Zipline flight. There is no teleoperation or joystick piloting of any Zipline flight.

Access to any retained visual data requires a specific, defined business purpose and is restricted to trained Zipline personnel for instances like investigating an unusual flight event for safety and system reliability.

Zipline does not collect patient data: Zipline only knows the weight, volume, and carriage requirements (like temperature and handling instructions) of its medical deliveries.

Approvals / Permits

Zipline operates more than 30 sites across the US, and is continuing to expand to meet demand.

Zipline works with local authorities and community members before launching service in any area. In many cases, Zipline employees are also residents of the communities in which it operates, including customer service representatives and maintenance technicians. Zipline holds open houses, participates in local events, and listens closely to community feedback. Zipline believes safety and community confidence go hand-in-hand.

All of Zipline’s U.S. operations and aircraft are certificated and approved, and under the rigorous oversight of the Federal Aviation Administration. Zipline was one of the first FAA-certificated Part 135 commercial drone delivery operators in the U.S., and received the FAA’s first-ever approval of airspace traffic management system for drone delivery.