Shrugging off bad weather, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin launched its powerful New Glenn rocket on its maiden flight early Thursday, lighting up a cloudy overnight sky as it climbed away from Cape Canaveral in a high-stakes bid to compete with Elon Musk's industry-leading SpaceX.

After years of delays, the billionaire’s Blue Origin space company launched its New Glenn rocket early Thursday.

Blue Origin's New Glenn finally roared into orbit in the early hours of Thursday, with SpaceX's Starship rocket set to launch hours later.

Blue Origin's New Glenn successfully reached orbit on its first-ever flight, putting it in competition with SpaceX for heavy-lift missions.

New Glenn is capable of carrying 50 tons (45 metric tons) of payload to low Earth orbit (LEO). SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket, which also features reusable first stage boosters, can lift around 70 tons (64 metric tons) to LEO.

Blue Origin successfully launched the rocket after an attempt earlier in the week was scrubbed. The flight is a crucial test of the company’s ability to compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (and many others) posted pics of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket, named for astronaut John Glenn, on social after liftoff.

Lauren Sánchez shared a sweet post celebrating Jeff Bezos and the successful launch of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket this week.

Jeff Bezos, the second richest man in the world, successfully blasted off a 320-foot-tall rocket ship made by his Blue Origin company from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in the early hours of the morning. It made the company the first to successfully reach orbit on its first launch of an orbital-class rocket.

Eastern time on Jan. 16, 2025, a new rocket blasted off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. By reaching orbit, Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket launch has marked a milestone for a commercial space company that has big ambitions.