The Ukrainian postal courier Nova Poshta has carried out its second unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs) test between Kyiv and Lviv, flying 500km on November 17 to deliver a parcel.
The test began at 9:00am when the drone took off from the Kyiv Innovation Terminal to deliver 10 parcels, taking up just over 2kg of the drone’s total payload of 16kg. The UAV can climb to a height of 900m and spend up to 12 hours in the air without additional recharging. It can also be remote-controlled at distances up to 200km and can recognize obstacles in its path. To ensure the safety of its cargo in unforeseen circumstances, the UAV is also monitored by an operator who has the option to take control.
The post is continuing to test new routes for delivering parcels by UAVs. With these trials, it is hopeful about its plans to become the first unmanned delivery company in the Ukraine and launch the service into commercial operation.
Volodymyr Masyuk, director of research and development at Nova Poshta, said, “For Nova Poshta, this is the first experience of delivering cargo by drone from its own terminal to the terminal – from Kyiv to Lviv. Because during the first test flight of the drone from Kyiv to Kharkiv, the connecting points were city airfields. Today, a UAV was used for the flight, which has a vertical take-off and does not require acceleration, so it can deliver directly to the destination.”