The New Glenn rocket from Jeff Bezos' company Blue Origin blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida on its inaugural flight, live images show.
The 98-metre tall rocket, named after John Glenn, the first US astronaut to orbit Earth, has been in development for about a decade. It features a first-stage booster designed for a minimum of 25 flights.
After stage separation, Blue Origin will attempt the difficult feat of landing the booster on a barge floating in the Atlantic named Jacklyn, after Bezos' mother.
"Our key objective today is to reach orbit safely," Blue Origin wrote on X ahead of the early Thursday launch.
"Anything beyond that is icing on the cake. We know landing the booster on our first try offshore in the Atlantic is ambitious — but we're going for it. No matter what happens, we'll learn, refine, and apply that knowledge to our next launch."
Blue Origin is seeking to compete with Elon Musk's SpaceX, which has positioned itself as the primary provider of space launch services in the United States.
