Elon Musk's SpaceX wants to deliver high-speed internet to the world using thousands of small satellites -- and this week that plan is moving closer to reality.

The company is slated to launch a rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 6:17 a.m. local time on Wednesday. On board will be two experimental satellites that will test out the technology SpaceX plans to use for its internet service, according to public filings.

SpaceX has the blessing of the Federal Communications Commission to send up the test satellites. And last week, FCC chairman Ajit Pai gave SpaceX's internet ambitions a nudge by urging the FCC to approve SpaceX's broader internet proposal.

SpaceX's plan is to "deliver broadband services directly to [people] anywhere in the United States or around the world" at speeds similar to some of the quickest ground-based internet connections.

Billions of people around the globe still lack internet access, so companies have been racing to find a better way to beam internet down from the sky.