Blue Origin, the rocket company Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos founded, notched one of the most substantial successes in its history on Thursday: sending a rocket to orbit.

The billionaire space race entered a new phase today when Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin successfully launched its 320-foot-tall New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

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.

The successful flight to orbit of the Amazon founder’s powerful rocket suggests it could grow into a credible competitor with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Rough seas caused Blue Origin to hold off a planned early Friday launch attempt with is debut of New Glenn, which is now targeting early Sunday instead. SpaceX, though, managed liftoff later Friday with a booster flying for a record 25th time.

Blue Origin scrubs New Glenn's debut launch amid technical issues, keeping SpaceX's lead intact in the commercial space race.

The heavy-lift New Glenn rocket reached orbit during its maiden flight on Thursday, bringing Blue Origin, a private company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, one step closer to competing with launch titan SpaceX.

Jeff Bezos’ company is gearing up to launch its New Glenn rocket, kicking off a year in which the industry anticipates to grow under the Trump administration.

Elon Musk, has struck yet again. The world’s richest man has been sharing a series of posts and memes about himself and fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos to debunk all the rivalry rumors between Musk's SpaceX and Bezos' Blue Origin in space exploration and the satellite internet business.

There will be many moving parts for the U.S. economy and for financial markets as the second Trump administration makes its mark on regulation and trade policies. One of Trump's consistent opinions has been that a weaker dollar is good for the U.S. economy because it can boost exports.

By comparison, last year's total of 93 orbital rocket launches breezed to a new Florida annual record. The former record was 72 launches in 2023.