The first operational batch of Project Kuiper satellites reached orbit Monday, kickstarting the deployment of a long-delayed broadband constellation.

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

Now a fresh batch of hardware that is making its way to orbit—a stack of two dozen satellites from delivery giant Amazon that are designed to send the Internet to Earth from space—highlights once again the challenges facing our civilization.