Amazon began delivering orders to customers in two U.S. cities using drones. According to the Ars Technica website, Amazon Prime Air delivery service began operating in Lockford, California, and in College Station, Texas.

The service offers its customers delivery of orders weighing up to 2.3 kilograms by drone. Up to 85 percent of packages delivered fall into this category, according to the company.

Delivery takes one hour

Amazon received approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in August of this year to launch a commercial drone delivery project.

Residents of certain cities in California and Texas can now sign up for Amazon Prime Air and receive Amazon purchases via drone. Once the order is confirmed, the customer will be informed of the delivery time, and the customer can also track the delivery process online. Delivery time takes no more than 60 minutes.

"The drone will fly to the designated delivery location, descend to the customer’s backyard, and hover at a safe height. It will then safely release the package and rise back up to altitude," the service description read.

The service to expand its geography

Lockford, where Amazon launched the service, is a small town of about 3,500 people about 80 kilometers from Sacramento. The city of College Station is about 100 miles from Houston and has a population of 120,000.

Amazon Prime Air said it plans to expand its drone delivery service geographically and build a larger customer base in the future.

"Our aim is to safely introduce our drones to the skies. We are starting in these communities and will gradually expand deliveries to more customers over time," said Amazon Air spokeswoman Natalie Banke.

The company uses MK27-2 drones for delivery, which are quite large and have six engines. Although the drones are fully autonomous and controlled by computer algorithms, which are also responsible for keeping the device away from various obstacles (chimneys, power lines, trees, etc.), each delivery is controlled by a human.