Drone startup Matternet has received approval from Germany’s federal aviation office to operate its M2 drones beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS) over the city of Berlin.
It will be the first ever BVLOS drone delivery network in the city.
Matternet is working with Labor Berlin, one of Europe’s largest laboratories, that provides diagnostics for 30 hospitals with more than 24,000 beds. This includes Vivantes, the largest municipal hospital in Berlin. The drone network aims to connect Labor Berlin’s central lab to affiliated hospitals for quick delivery of samples in densely populated cities.
Operations will start early next year following clearance on the state level, Matternet said.
Initially, the drone network in Berlin will target emergency diagnostics with the goal to cut down on carbon emissions from the nearly 250,000 miles per day that cars travel in the city.
“Healthcare systems need a fast, reliable and cost-effective solution to transport lab samples and pharmacy items to ensure patients receive best-in-class care,” said Andreas Raptopoulos, founder and CEO of Matternet.
This will be the third BVLOS project that Matternet will undertake. Earlier this year, the company gained approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to use its M2 drones for UPS Flight Forward, its package drone delivery system.
The company holds an FAA Type Certification and Production Certification as well as BVLOS approval with the Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation. In 2022, Matternet opened what it claimed was the first European city-wide drone delivery network in Switzerland for unmanned delivery of postage in the city of Zurich.
