Georgina RannardClimate and Science Reporter
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' space company has launched its first rocket into orbit in an attempt to challenge the dominance of Elon Musk's SpaceX.
The New Glenn rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 02:02 local time (07:02 GMT).
He pits two of the world's richest men brutally against each other in a commercial space race, vying for the opportunity to launch larger, more powerful rockets.
Both want to fill the sky with more satellites, launch private space stations and provide transportation for regular trips to the moon.
“Congratulations on achieving orbit on your first try!” Musk wrote to Bezos in a message on X.
Dave Limp, CEO of Bezos' space company Blue Origin, said he was “incredibly proud.”
“We'll learn a lot today and try again at our next launch this spring,” he added.
Bezos' team overcame technical hurdles that caused delays earlier this week when ice formation halted the launch.
Blue Origin employees and a crowd of people gathered near Cape Canaveral cheered as the 98-meter-tall rocket launched into orbit.
But the company was unable to land New Glenn's main rocket engine or booster on the platform in the Atlantic Ocean.
The company hoped the launch vehicle could be reused for future launches, but about 20 minutes into the flight the company confirmed it had lost an engine.
Bezos' Blue Origin is struggling to keep up with SpaceX's pace. But the launch will be seen as a major step forward for the business.
The New Glenn rocket was named after John Glenn, the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth more than 60 years ago.
The rocket is more powerful than SpaceX's most commonly used rocket, the Falcon 9. It can also carry more satellites, and Bezos wants to use it as part of his Kuiper project, which aims to deploy thousands of low-Earth satellites to provide broadband services.
This project will directly compete with Musk's Starlink service.
Blue Origin MediaJeff Bezos founded Blue Origin 25 years ago, saying he wanted “millions of people to work and live in space.”
For years, the facility has sent a smaller, reusable rocket called New Shepard to the edge of Earth's atmosphere. In 2021, it carried passengers and payload, including Bezos himself.
But Blue Origin has significantly outpaced SpaceX, which launched its rockets 134 times last year.
And the new generation of SpaceX rockets, called Starship, is even more powerful. The company hopes to launch it on its seventh test flight later today.
Some experts say a successful New Glenn rocket will create real competition between the two companies and could lower the costs of space operations.
“You'll see these two companies challenging each other to do even better,” suggests Dr Simeon Barber of the Open University in the UK.
Governments have historically spent billions building rockets and sending missions into space.
But the US space agency NASA is increasingly moving away from relying solely on government money and has awarded huge contracts to private companies to supply rockets and other space services.
Elon Musk's SpaceX has already received billions of dollars in space contracts.
His close relationship with the next US President Donald Trump could further strengthen his company.
