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WASHINGTON — U.S. commercial drone operations could take flight on a large scale by this time next year, as federal regulators finalize rules allowing widespread unmanned aerial system use by companies, according to congressional testimony on June 17.

UPS Inc. said it is looking into using drone technology to deliver humanitarian aid to difficult-to-reach areas during a disaster scenario.

Amazon.com Inc. said the U.S. regulatory approval it received last week to test deliveries by unmanned aircraft, or drones, is too little, too late.

Amazon.com got a boost from U.S. regulators who granted the company permission to conduct test flights in its effort to expand research into the viability of delivery drones.

Proposed federal rules on unmanned aerial vehicles are likely to delay the ability of companies to offer delivery services via drones, industry officials said.

President Obama’s administration took the first step to opening the skies above the United States to widespread civilian drone flights while proposing strict limits on commercial operations, including the use of drones as a delivery vehicle.

Alibaba Group Holding is making its first trial drone deliveries in China, as e-commerce rival Amazon.com Inc. struggles to start a similar program in the U.S.

Deutsche Post AG, Europe’s largest postal service, is about to begin deliveries of medication and other urgent goods to the island of Juist using unmanned helicopters after securing approval from state and federal transport ministries and air traffic control authorities to operate in a restricted flight area.

Google's laboratory division is developing drones that can handle deliveries, a move that would be in direct competition with Amazon.com.