Amazon’s Project Kuiper is ready for its “first full-scale satellite launch,” with the company deploying 27 satellites next week.

Project Kuiper is Amazon’s answer to SpaceX, with the goal of providing satellite-based internet. Like SpaceX’s Starlink, Project Kuiper’s satellites will be deployed in low-Earth orbit (LEO), providing speeds and latency more akin to traditional broadband than legacy satellite providers like Hughesnet.

Amazon has been pouring billions into Project Kuiper, even before launching a working satellite constellation, the term for a network of satellites that provide internet access. According to a company blog post, Amazon is finally preparing for its first major launch.

Project Kuiper is set to send its first full batch of satellites to space, marking an important step in its mission to deliver fast, reliable internet to customers and communities around the world. The mission, named “KA-01” for Kuiper Atlas 1, will launch on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, and deploy 27 satellites at an altitude of 280 miles (450 kilometers) above Earth. Launch is currently scheduled for no earlier than (NET) 12 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, April 9.

The company says it plans to deliver internet access to customers later this year, with a goal of launching more than 3,200 of its first-generation satellites.

“We’ve designed some of the most advanced communications satellites ever built, and every launch is an opportunity to add more capacity and coverage to our network,” said Rajeev Badyal, vice president of Project Kuiper. “We’ve done extensive testing on the ground to prepare for this first mission, but there are some things you can only learn in flight, and this will be the first time we’ve flown our final satellite design and the first time we’ve deployed so many satellites at once. No matter how the mission unfolds, this is just the start of our journey, and we have all the pieces in place to learn and adapt as we prepare to launch again and again over the coming years.”

SpaceX is the dominant, and only, major player in the LEO satellite internet market. Project Kuiper could finally provide some much-needed competition in the market.