by Michael Willoughby
Guinn Partners and Doosan Mobility Innovations, in collaboration with Skyfire Consulting, and the US Department of Health, carried 43-mile open-ocean medical drone delivery between St. Croix and St. Thomas via hydrogen fuel cell-powered craft last week.
The flight took 1h43 minutes on Doosan’s DS-30 aircraft and he UAM still had nearly 30 minutes of hydrogen left in the tank upon landing.
The drone carried simulation vials as a surrogate for diagnostic samples or vaccines in a temperature-controlled payload system. I’m excited for this next generation of drone flight capability and what we’ll see enabled by this technology in both the public and commercial sectors!
“We’re officially in a new era of long-flight functionality in the commercial drone industry. Drones are now specialized tools with applications far beyond what was possible in years past.”
