The Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA, has announced the addition of a prototype Amazon Prime Air MK30 delivery drone to its permanent Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAV) exhibit. The exhibit features some of the most notable drone designs developed since the 1940s, and the MK30 brings the collection into the era of commercial drone delivery. Developed by Prime Air, Amazon’s drone delivery program, the MK30 was publicly unveiled in October 2023. Production models entered commercial service in November 2024. By mid-2026, the aircraft had completed hundreds of thousands of deliveries while serving cities across the United States and the United Kingdom.
The MK30 cruises at speeds of more than 60 mph and operates in temperatures below freezing and above 110 degrees Fahrenheit. It is fully electric, producing no exhaust emissions during flight. A key feature is Prime Air’s Detect-and-Avoid system, which continuously monitors the airspace and environment around the drone. The system works similarly to a trained pilot scanning the surrounding airspace, allowing the aircraft to detect obstacles and make decisions in real time while flying. If it identifies an obstacle in its path, the drone automatically adjusts its course. If it detects a hazard at the delivery location, it will not complete the delivery and instead return to the Prime Air drone delivery center.
Prime Air is Amazon’s drone delivery program, developed to extend the company’s fast and convenient shopping service. Its drones can deliver packages weighing five pounds or less in as little as 30 minutes. Depending on the location, eligible products range from hundreds of thousands to millions of items, including household essentials, cosmetics, medications and electronics. Most products weighing five pounds or less that fit inside a large shoebox qualify for delivery. Amazon introduced Prime Air in November 2013 with the goal of delivering packages weighing five pounds or less to customers in under 30 minutes using autonomous drones.
The Federal Aviation Administration granted Amazon an experimental airworthiness certificate in 2015, and Prime Air completed its first drone delivery in 2016. In 2020, the FAA authorized the program to conduct drone deliveries under a Part 135 air carrier certificate. Commercial operations launched in 2022, allowing Amazon.com customers to order items for delivery by drone for the first time. Prime Air has continued to expand its operations across the United States and other international markets. For more information and to support The Museum of Flight, click on this link: www.museumofflight.org.
