Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s space company has blasted its first rocket into orbit in a bid to challenge the dominance of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, the BBC reports.
The New Glenn rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 02:02 local time (07:02 GMT).
It firmly pits the world’s two richest men against each other in a commercial space race, vying to fly bigger and more powerful rockets.
Both want to populate the skies with more satellites, run private space stations, and provide transport for regular trips by people to the Moon.
“Congratulations on reaching orbit on the first attempt!” Musk wrote in a post to Bezos on X.
Dave Limp, CEO of Bezos’s space company Blue Origin, said he was “incredibly proud”.
“We’ll learn a lot from today and try again at our next launch this spring,” he added.
Bezos’s team overcame technical barriers that caused delays earlier this week when ice formation halted a launch.
