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.

Blue Origin managed something no commercial rocket company has ever done successfully by reaching orbit on the first try with its New Glenn rocket during an overnight launch early Thursday. The heavy-lift rocket for Jeff Bezos’ company is trying to become a competitor for SpaceX and United Launch Alliance.

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.