Unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, are now used for all sorts of things, from taking out terrorists to delivering take-out. Now a tiny start-up in California’s Bay Area is working on what it hopes will be the next big thing: large autonomous drones capable of moving freight across the Pacific Ocean more cheaply than conventional piloted cargo planes and faster than cargo ships.
Natilus Inc., of Richmond, Calif., is building a 30-foot prototype drone that could take to the air for the first time later this year. If all goes as planned, the firm will develop an 80-foot drone that will begin flying routes from Los Angeles to Hawaii in 2019. A 140-foot drone with a 200,000-pound cargo capacity could be flying routes to China starting in 2020 …
NBC News | April 3, 2017
