If you think that sounds just like something in a science fiction novel, then another recent patent will sound like it is light years away. According to Air Space Magazine, Amazon recently filed a patent for a giant floating warehouse from which small drones could travel to-and-fro in order to grab parcels and deliver them to their destination. The patent isn’t full of details, but it suggests that the plan is to have a large floating warehouse kept afloat by helium or hot air that would hover 45,000 feet above sea level.

The future of drones in the shipping industry isn’t just limited to small drones meant to deliver individual packages. As reported multiple startups are working on what it hopes will be the next big thing: large autonomous drones or larger flying vessels capable of moving freight across the Pacific Ocean more cheaply than conventional piloted cargo planes and faster than cargo ships. Traditional methods to ship goods across the Pacific Ocean are either cargo ships or cargo planes. Cargo ships can transport goods cheaply, but it takes time.

We hope to see drone technology come into fruition soon. There are many hurdles to get through, including government regulations, but, with the investment major companies are putting into this technology, it seems that drones are here to stay, and they will transform the shipping industry as we know it today.