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

Founded 25 years ago by Bezos, Blue Origin has been launching paying passengers to the edge of space since 2021, including himself. The short hops from Texas use smaller rockets named after the first American in space, Alan Shepard. New Glenn, which honors John Glenn, is five times taller.

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

EDT Thursday, Jan. Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, launched its 320-foot-tall New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral

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.

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.

Blue Origin has launched its New Shepard rocket—a reusable sub-orbital rocket used for space tourism—27 times. It's named after Alan Shepard, the first American in space. Bezos flew in New Shepard on July 20, 2021, crossing the Kármán line, the dividing line between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space.

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.

The 320-foot New Glenn rocket was initially scheduled to launch early Monday with a prototype satellite aboard.

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.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket is seen on Launch Complex 36 shortly before the launch attempt was scrubbed ...

Jeff Bezos's space company Blue Origin has successfully launched its massive New Glenn rocket into orbit for the first time, marking a significant challenge to Elon Musk's dominance in the commercial space industry.