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.
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.
Bezos’ space company Blue Origin started at about the same time as Musk’s SpaceX but since then Musk’s firm has launched more than 400 of its Falcon 9 rockets into orbit and is testing out its giant Starship rocket which it hopes will send astronauts to the Moon and one day possibly on to Mars.
The company, started by the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, reset its countdown clock repeatedly over a period of just over two hours before eventually postponing the test flight to another day.
The billionaire space race entered a new phase today when Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin successfully launched its 320-foot-tall New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
The successful flight to orbit of the Amazon founder’s powerful rocket suggests it could grow into a credible competitor with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
KEY TAKEAWAYS Blue Origin, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' space company, launched its large rocket for the first time early Thursday.After several postponed launches, the 320-foot-tall New Glenn rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 2:03 a.
New Glenn rocket blasted off from Florida early morning on its first mission to space, inaugural step into Earth's orbit for Jeff Bezos' space company as it aims to rival SpaceX in the satellite launc
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.
New Glenn’s maiden voyage ramps up an ongoing space race between Blue Origin and SpaceX, which were respectively founded the world’s two richest people. Bezos currently has an estimated net worth of $237 billion, while Musk’s fortune stands at $428.5 billion.
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.