Blue Origin scored a major win with its New Glenn rocket launch, but SpaceX still leads the space industry with a Falcon fleet and upcoming Starship.

The uncrewed New Glenn rocket took off at 2:03 a.m. EST from Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Blue Origin said.

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.

After abruptly calling off its first launch attempt in the early hours of Monday morning, Blue Origin notched a historic success with its first orbital rocket.

Blue Origin officials hope to send their heavy-lift New Glenn rocket on its unmanned maiden voyage into space after 1 a.m. EST, with the mission's goal being to reach orbit before returning to Earth.

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.

SpaceX launched a new round of Starlink satellites into lower Earth orbit on its 11th launch of 2025, setting it on pace to break another one-year launch record.

The seventh test flight of SpaceX's Starship has successfully taken off from Boca Chica, Texas. Newsweek's live blog is closed.

Blue Origin is key to Amazon's ability to compete with SpaceX Starlink. Jeff Bezos has finally done it. He's finally reached space with an honest-to-goodness orbital-class rocket. Ten years ago, Bezos ignited a feud with SpaceX founder Elon Musk when his Blue Origin rocket company launched a suborbital New Shepard rocket to the edge of space and then landed it back on Earth.

Going forward, SpaceX is likely to offer its gigantic Starship rocket as a competitor to New Glenn, and here, the advantage shifts back to SpaceX. Bigger than New Glenn (120 meters tall versus 98) and with a wider faring to encapsulate cargo (9 meters versus 7), SpaceX's Starship will boast a massive payload advantage over Blue Origin's new rocket.

A new space race is taking place and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin just made the latest move as rival Elon Musk’s SpaceX prepares for its own launch.

Blue Abyss has entered into a public/private partnership known as a Space Act Agreement with NASA Glenn Research Center to help advance next-generation extreme environment and spaceflight training.