Airborne fulfillment center utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles for item delivery

A system for delivering an ordered item to a user, the system comprising:

• an aerial fulfillment center (“AFC”) that is airborne at an altitude and configured to receive and store a plurality of inventory items;
• a shuttle configured to transport inbound items to the AFC while the AFC is airborne;
• a plurality of UAVs located at the AFC and configured to transport items from the AFC to delivery locations, while the AFC is airborne;
• and
• an inventory management system that sends an instruction directing a UAV of the plurality of UAVs to transport the ordered item from the AFC to a delivery location while the AFC is airborne.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, the instructions when executed by a processor causing the processor to at least:

• receive an order for an item;
• determine a delivery location for the item;
• determine an aerial fulfillment center (“AFC”) within a range of the delivery location, wherein the AFC is airborne at an altitude and configured to enable deliver of items using unmanned aerial vehicles (“UAV”) deployed from the AFC;
• and
• designating the AFC for delivery of the item.