The Amazon founder’s space company marked a major milestone Thursday with the first test flight of its New Glenn rocket.

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.

Tesla CEO and Amazon founder vie for dominance of satellite launch market and could influence Nasa plans to return to Moon

After more than a decade of development, hype and pent-up demand, Jeff Bezos’ aerospace venture Blue Origin will at long last attempt to put a rocket into orbit. New Glenn, originally intended to

Watch as Amazon boss Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin attempted to launch its New Glenn rocket for the first time from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Monday, 13 January. It was to be the long-delayed debut launch of Mr Bezos's challenge to SpaceX's dominance in the satellite launch market.

While Jeff Bezos has spent $14 billion to achieve his first space launch, his billionaire rival has built a thriving business, mostly with other people’s money.

It took a while, but investors and space enthusiasts are finally getting the drama they have been looking for: David versus Goliath, but in space. SpaceX, owned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, is set to test its huge Starship launch vehicle on Thursday afternoon.