On May 21, Meituan's drone division announced the official commencement of regular operations for its "low-altitude flight network."

Since beginning its exploration in 2017, Meituan's drone initiative has undergone nine years of development, evolving from "single-point testing" to a "hub-and-spoke single-line operation," and now to a networked system that "connects points to form an area." To support this high-density low-altitude network, Meituan's latest low-altitude logistics solution includes the self-developed fourth-generation long-range winch drone M-Drone 4L Winch, the smart docking station M-Port 3, and the drone cloud control system M-DaaS 3.

On the hardware front, the new drone models can operate stably in extreme weather conditions, including heavy rain, moderate snow, and winds up to Level 6, within a temperature range of -20°C to 50°C, covering over 97% of urban scenarios in China. The newly designed M-Port 3.0 smart docking station occupies only 1.4 square meters, enabling rapid deployment across city streets and alleys.

Regarding safety and dispatch, Meituan's drone operations hold the only civil unmanned aircraft operator certificate in China that covers the entire country. The self-developed M-DaaS 3 system acts as the network's "super brain," capable of assessing abnormal situations within 100 milliseconds and supporting beyond-visual-line-of-sight, multi-model, high-density complex dispatch operations.

With the network entering regular operation, Meituan is officially launching a nationwide recruitment plan for authorized service providers in the low-altitude logistics sector. By leveraging its newly released self-developed hardware and software products, the company aims to open its low-altitude delivery capabilities to the industry.

It is reported that earlier this year, Meituan conducted a trial recruitment nationwide and has already signed contracts with its first batch of 10 authorized service providers. Utilizing partners' local resources, the application scenarios for drone delivery are rapidly expanding from food delivery to other diversified high-value scenarios. The service areas will also extend to provinces such as Zhejiang, Hunan, and Guangxi.

"The essence of the low-altitude flight network is not to make food delivery more flashy, but to free urban commerce from the physical constraints of concrete and steel," stated Mao Yinian, Vice President of Meituan and Head of the Drone Business Unit. He added that Meituan's goal with drones is to "give AI wings in the physical world." "Looking ahead, we will delve deeply into the real-world needs and collaborate with a wide range of ecosystem partners to establish the low-altitude flight network as a new urban infrastructure, helping everyone eat better and live better."