Blue Origin's New Glenn successfully reached orbit on its first-ever flight, putting it in competition with SpaceX for heavy-lift missions.

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

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.

Blue Origin, the space venture founded by Jeff Bezos, successfully launched its reusable New Glenn rocket on January 16 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, reported India Today. This inaugural flight marks a significant achievement for the company following several delays due to weather conditions and technical challenges.

Elon Musk congratulated Jeff Bezos following Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket successfully reaching orbit on its first flight, expressing his admiration on social media.

Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin is about to launch its New Glenn rocket for the first time. The maiden flight is planned for tomorrow, January 13th – and marks a milestone in the competition with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin launched its first New Glenn rocket early Thursday morning from Florida, an inaugural step into Earth's orbit to rival SpaceX in the satellite launch market. (Reporting by Joey Roulette;

Blue Origin's giant New Glenn rocket blasted off from Florida early Thursday morning on its first mission to space, an inaugural step into Earth's orbit for Jeff Bezos' space company as it aims to rival SpaceX in the satellite launch business.

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.