Your next takeout order could come from the sky

Press a button on your phone, and a few minutes later food falls out of the sky. This is the future that Zipline, an autonomous drone delivery startup, has in mind for the masses.

On Friday, the company announced it had completed its one-millionth customer delivery, becoming the first in its industry to reach the two-comma club. Overall, Zipline’s zero-emission drones have now flown 70+ million autonomous commercial miles across four continents, delivering 10+ million products.

What’s next? Food delivery. The startup, which has raised $500+ million from investors including Sequoia Capital, a16z, and Google Ventures, currently works with 4,700+ hospitals, including the Cleveland Clinic, as well as brands like Walmart and GNC. But Zipline’s next phase of expansion includes partnerships with Panera Bread in Seattle and Jet’s Pizza in Detroit.

Autonomous drone delivery is on the upswing. ​​Until recently, commercial drone operators weren't permitted to fly aircraft long distances without visual spotters. This made scaling-up drone deliveries near impossible, since placing an observer every mile or so along the drones’ routes en masse is about as practical as bailing water out of a fast-sinking boat with a thimble.

However, the situation changed last fall, when the FAA began authorizing some drone operators to fly their aircraft "beyond the visual line of sight."

As a result: Expect Wing, Amazon, Walmart-backed DroneUp, and a few other companies to also begin scaling their respective autonomous drone delivery services in the US sometime this year.

+Have some free time and wanna go deeper? Check out this video chronicling Zipline and its delivery experience.