Amazon said April 29 it has made contact with its first 27 operational Project Kuiper broadband satellites, after being dropped off in low Earth orbit by ULA’s Atlas V rocket.

Amazon needs to build up a credible contender to Starlink, the satellite-internet provider owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

The launch kicks off the first installment for Amazon’s Project Kuiper, a plan to create a massive constellation of internet-beaming satellites. The effort is poised to compete directly with Starlink,