By CBS News
German postal carrier Deutsche Post DHL is testing a drone delivery service that could deliver medical and food supplies to areas with minimal road access.
On Monday, the company ran a test delivery of its so-called “parcelcopter.” In a flight that lasted two minutes, remote-controlled drone carried a batch of medicine from a pharmacy in the city of Bonn to the company’s headquarters, just across the Rhine River.
The test came just a week after Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced on 60 Minutes that his company is developing plans for drone delivery, though it still faces many technological and legal hurdles.
It is capable of carrying up to 2.6 pounds, and can autonomously navigate using GPS coordinates. The drone cost about $54,900, according to Reuters.
“We are at the beginning of the research project,” DHL manager Ole Nordhoff told Germany’s English news service The Local. “It is an exciting bit of technology.”