Condor drone can carry 400 pounds: Drone Delivery Canada launched new model Feb. 19.

• Author: Kelly, Lindsay
• Position: AVIATION

Drone Delivery Canada (DDC) has launched its newest cargo drone, the Condor, which is capable of carrying 400 pounds of payload and travelling 200 kilometres.

Unveiled to the public in Toronto on Feb. 19, the Condor has a wing span of about 20 feet and is powered by a gas propulsion engine.

Tony Di Benedetto, CEO at Vaughan, Ont.-based DDC, said that allows the drone to fly farther, carry bigger payloads, and withstand more severe weather.

"The other models are all electric; they're powered by lithium battery technology," he said.

"To achieve bigger capacities, bigger distances, we need a different type of propulsion system, and this is a very small engine. It's just a very efficient design."

Since its inception in 2014, DDC's main objective has been to develop drones that can deliver essential items to Canada's remote and Indigenous communities more efficiently and at reduced cost than through standard transportation methods.

Its drones are outfitted with the company's proprietary FLYTE management software, a system that works with any model of drone.

The earliest model, the Sparrow, can carry 10 pounds of cargo and fly just a few kilometres. DDC followed that up with the Raven, which can carry 25 pounds of payload and fly 60 kilometres, and the Falcon, which can carry 50 pounds of cargo and fly 60 kilometres.

Over time, demand has grown for larger cargo drones that can deliver things like food, medical supplies and bulky items to remote communities, Di Benedetto said, and the technology has now advanced to the point that the drones can transport either static or tethered cargo.

For the next iteration, he noted, DDC is looking at more than tripling the Condor's current capacity.

"We went from 10 pounds to 25 pounds to 50 pounds, and now we're going to 400. It's this momentum to keep pushing this envelope forward," he said. "And we're not stopping at the Condor. The next reiteration, we'll probably do about 1,500 pounds."

The company will work with Transport Canada to meet its flight protocols, and, if all goes well, will start testing the Condor in the third quarter of 2019.

That's also around the time that the company's new, 16,000-square-foot operations centre should be up and running, Di Benedetto said.

Announced in early February, the Vaughan-based facility will have room for up to 25 drone operators and function like an air traffic control centre, from which DDC can monitor the drones' flight paths. The facility, which will also be...