Matternet has announced that it has been granted a Production Certificate by the Federal Aviation Administration for its Matternet M2 drone. Earlier this year the M2 aircraft achieved FAA standard Type Certification, the first of its kind for an unmanned aircraft.
The company has said that the Production Certificate acknowledges that Matternet has established a quality management and manufacturing capability to produce aircraft that conform to the approved Type Design. This aims to help Matternet to manufacture, test and issue airworthiness certificates
“Receiving an FAA Production Certificate is yet another milestone establishing Matternet as the first – and currently only – company able to produce certified delivery drone systems in the United States,” said Andreas Raptopoulos, founder and CEO of Matternet. “The aircraft produced under this Certificate will be the very ones that lead a transformation of how we deliver time- sensitive materials, especially in critical industries like health care.”
The matternet drone will be produced at the company’s Mountain View, California facility. The company is currently focused on expanding its U.S operations, especially within the health care sector where autonomous delivery solutions can solve many challenges faced by health systems.
Matternet drone delivery system can enable the fast, on-demand and routine delivery of biological lab samples to offsite testing facilities. This helps ensure that health care professionals and patients get answers more quickly all while creating more efficient processing of laboratory tests – which are often unevenly distributed and burden costlier, overnight lab staff with high-volume tests
Matternet has said that it expects its first M2 drones produced under this Production Certificate will enter service beginning December 2022. Matternet is now the first company in the U.S with an approved and in-production aircraft that has been deemed airworthy and eligible for commercial delivery operations.
