Blue Origin, the space company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, launched its huge New Glenn rocket for the first time today.
The rocket, whose inaugural mission was delayed by several years, blasted off at 2:03 a.m. local time from Cape Canaveral Space Force Base in the US state of Florida, AFP reports.
The mission is seen as crucial to Blue Origin's efforts to compete with Elon Musk's SpaceX, which dominates the commercial space industry.
"LIFTOFF! New Glenn begins its first-ever ascent to the stars," Blue Origin said on social media platform X.
"New Glenn has crossed the Karman Line, the internationally recognized frontier of space!" the company wrote just minutes later.
And then, "Second stage engine shutdown confirmed. New Glenn's second stage and payload are now in orbit."
The initial test launch of the 98-metre-tall rocket, named New Glenn in honour of legendary American astronaut John Glenn, was aborted on January 13 after repeated shutdowns during the countdown.
The company later said it had discovered a problem with icing on the purge line and would seek an eventual launch, but weather conditions were unfavorable.
Blue Origin announced that the launch had been postponed.
With a mission called NG-1, Amazon founder Bezos is taking aim at the only person in the world richer than him: his colleague Musk, who is a tech innovator.
Musk's company SpaceX dominates the orbital launch market through its prolific Falcon 9 rockets, which have become vital to the commercial sector, the Pentagon and NASA.
"SpaceX has been pretty much the only game in town over the last few years, so having a competitor is great," G. said. Scott Hubbard, a retired senior NASA official who expects competition to drive down costs.
Intensifying the high-stakes rivalry, SpaceX is also planning another orbital test of Starship - its next-generation gargantuan rocket - this week.
Billionaire Ilon Musk, SpaceX's chief, congratulated Jeff Bezos on his company's success.
"Congratulations on reaching orbit on your first try! @JeffBezos," Musk wrote on his Platform X. | BGNES
