Delivery by Drones: Vaccines may reach remote areas starting in August

Smart technology of drone delivers coronavirus vaccine (Source: ShutterStock)

Drones may soon be seen zipping over parts of India, delivering COVID-19 vaccines and medicines to the remotest parts as the country revs up its inoculation drive.

India is easing restrictions on drone flights to facilitate their operations over a wider area, making it feasible for operators to use them for purposes such as delivery.

India currently allows drones, or Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), to be used only in visual line of sight of their operators. In May, the government granted conditional exemption from the UAS rules to 20 entities to conduct Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) experimental flights of drones.

The BVLOS trials will help create a framework for future drone deliveries and other major applications using drones, the government said.

The 20 entities selected for BVLOS experimental drone flights include the Aerospace Industry Development Association of Tamil Nadu, ANRA Consortium A, AutoMicroUAS Aerotech, and SpiceJet.

Permission by August

The testing of the capabilities of these consortia will start soon, after which the companies will undertake trial drone operations to check the ability of delivering vaccines and medicines to remote areas. Once these are done, they are likely to be given permission by August to start operations.

Enabling drones to fly beyond the visual line of sight of operators will open up a host of new opportunities in various fields, including the delivery of vaccines during the pandemic.

Besides companies, state governments too are keen to use drones to deliver vaccines to remote areas, and some are looking at using drones to distribute medicines to the needy. Telangana and Maharashtra are likely to be the first two states to start using drones to deliver vaccines.

Last month, the ministry of civil aviation and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation granted conditional exemption to the Telangana government to conduct experimental BVLOS drone flights for delivery of vaccines.

Only Daylight Hours

According to Wing Commander S Vijay, chief operating officer of Skye Air Mobility, one of the entities the Telangana government has shortlisted for delivery of vaccines by drones, the delivery trials will start in the last week of June.

“Presently, operations are restricted to daylight hours, but with sufficient experience and reliability of understanding of the platform, it could also probably go into the night,” Vijay said.

Among the conditions stipulated, drone operations can only be carried out between local sunrise and sunset.

Vijay said a drone can fly about 10 to 11 hours every day, with each flight lasting about 30 minutes.

“One drone can do 10 to 15 flights in a day subject to requirements when it is implemented, but during trials the number of flights will be less or just enough to prove the concept,” Vijay said.

Pan-India Plan

Of the 20 entities shortlisted for trial BVLOS drone flights, the final nod for Throttle Aerospace Systems is expected soon, officials said.

A senior official of Throttle Aerospace Systems said the company’s final goal is vaccine delivery by drones.

“We would want to be getting into vaccine delivery as well,” the executive said.

Throttle’s trials will start in Bengaluru and once the drones are proven and get a certificate stating that they are reliable for delivery, the company plans to operate across India, the official added.

Delivery by drones is in different stages for various entities. Some companies have already been exempted from UAS rules by the civil aviation ministry. At the moment, the UAS rules make the ‘No Permission-No Take Off’ requirement mandatory for all existing imported drones, except Nano drones, prior to their operations.

Drone Categories

There are various categories of drones – Nano Unmanned Aircraft, which are less than or equal to 250 gm; Micro Unmanned Aircraft, which are more than 250 gm but less than or equal to 2 kg, and Large Unmanned Aircraft, which weigh more than 150 kg.

The Indian Council of Medical Research is among those that have been given exemption from the UAS rules. ICMR is conducting a feasibility study of COVID-19 vaccine delivery using drones in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.

Telangana held hazard identification and risk mitigation exercises with stakeholders last week, official sources said.

Others are yet to get all the relevant exemptions. IIT Guwahati and Garuda Aerospace along with the Gujarat government are also working for medicine delivery using drones and have approached the civil aviation ministry for permissions, which they are yet to get.

The Public Health Foundation of India has approached the ministry for conducting pilot projects in vaccine and medicine delivery through drones, officials said.