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.
Thirty stories tall with a reusable first stage filled with liquid oxygen and methane, New Glenn launched around 2:00 a.m. ET (0700 GMT) from Blue Origin's launchpad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station under cloudy skies on its second attempt this week.
The rocket's first attempt to launch on Monday was scrubbed around 3:00 a.m. ET because ice had accumulated on a propellant line. On Thursday, the company cited no issues ahead of launch.
Hundreds of employees had gathered for the launch at Blue Origin's Kent, Washington headquarters and its Cape Canaveral, Florida rocket factory, a company live stream showed.
Locals on Florida's east coast cheered from parks and camp sites several miles from the launchpad upon liftoff.
The culmination of a decade-long, multi-billion-dollar development journey, the mission includes an attempt to land New Glenn's first stage booster on a sea-fairing barge in the Atlantic Ocean 10 minutes after liftoff, while the rocket's second stage continues toward orbit.
Secured inside New Glenn's payload bay is the first prototype of Blue Origin's Blue Ring vehicle, a maneuverable spacecraft the company plans to sell to the Pentagon and commercial customers for national security and satellite servicing missions.
Getting the spacecraft to its intended orbit on an inaugural rocket launch would be a rare achievement for a space company.
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