U.S. Food Delivery Drones Now Carry More Than 8 Pounds

Flytrex’s Sky2 has a payload of up to 8.8 pounds, enough to carry two large pizzas.

Jack Daleo

Saturday, April 25, 2026 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Zach Vasile

Flytrex and Little Caesar’s launched a partnership to deliver up to 8.8 pounds of food on a single drone flight. [Credit: Flytrex]

Key Takeaways:

Drone delivery companies are developing heavier-payload aircraft to improve economic viability, enabling the delivery of larger orders, such as family meals.
Flytrex's new Sky2 drone, capable of carrying 8.8 pounds (e.g., two large pizzas) and delivering within a 4-mile radius in 4.5 minutes, exemplifies this trend with its gentle tethered delivery system.
While current FAA regulations, particularly for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations, limit drone capabilities, evolving exemptions and proposed new rules are expected to foster the development of even larger and more efficient delivery drones.

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One of the biggest knocks against the viability of food drone delivery is its economics—with payloads limited by their weight, drones must be cheap to build and operate to make a trip worth the cost.

Most are limited to about 5 pounds of chicken wings, ice cream, eggs, or other restaurant and grocery store staples. But drone delivery operators are starting to think bigger—and heavier.