By JOSH FRIEDMAN

Amazon has launched drone deliveries, rolling out the new high-tech shipment service in a California town, as well as in a city in Texas.

The company’s new Prime Air service recently began making drone deliveries in Lockeford, a community in San Joaquin County, and in College Station, where Texas A&M University is located. Shoppers in Lockeford and College Station can place orders for Prime Air-eligible items.

After the orders are placed, Amazon’s drones fly to customers’ backyards, where they hover at a distance before dropping the package on the ground.

The drones are capable of evading objects, such as chimneys and other aircraft. They can fly at speeds of up to 50 mph and carry packages weighing up to five pounds.

“First deliveries from our new sites in TX and CA,” David Carbon, Vice President of Prime Air, wrote in a LinkedIn post. “Couldn’t be prouder of the amazing people that make up Prime Air. These are careful first steps that we will turn into giant leaps for our customers over the next number of years. Customers are our obsession, safety is our imperative, the future of delivery is our mandate, technology is unlocking that future and our people are the foundation that it all sits on! For all those who work at Prime Air…I humbly bow before you in thanks!!!”