By Joey Roulette

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Amazon.com on Wednesday said it plans to launch the first 27 satellites for its Project Kuiper internet network next week, pinning down a long-awaited start to the company’s plan to deploy a massive constellation that will rival Elon Musk’s Starlink system.

In a statement, Amazon said it will launch the “Kuiper Atlas 1” mission on April 9 at noon EDT (1600 GMT) from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. An Atlas 5 rocket from the Boeing and Lockheed Martin joint venture United Launch Alliance will send the satellites to space, as part of a giant multi-launch deal Amazon signed in 2022.

The mission will kick off Amazon’s full-scale deployment of Kuiper, a mesh-like network designed to top 3,000 satellites in low-Earth orbit that will provide high-speed internet globally and rival SpaceX’s Starlink, which has more than 7,000 satellites currently in space.

(Reporting by Joey Roulette; Editing by Chris Reese and Paul Simao)