Foreshadowing the future, two rockets lifted a combined 50 broadband satellites for two rival space-based internet companies into low-Earth orbit Monday, April 28, from Florida's Space Coast — and both rockets launched within a 3½-hour span.

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

The mission, called Kuiper Atlas 1, lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 7pm local time aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) A