Blue Origin successfully launched the rocket after an attempt earlier in the week was scrubbed. The flight is a crucial test of the company’s ability to compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Jeff Bezos, the second richest man in the world, successfully blasted off a 320-foot-tall rocket ship made by his Blue Origin company from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in the early hours of the morning. It made the company the first to successfully reach orbit on its first launch of an orbital-class rocket.

Florida’s sky briefly lit up during the night as one of a handful of big new American-made rockets took flight. It was the first time a new space company achieved orbit on the first launch attempt.

Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, two tech moguls who have spent years battling it out for supremacy in the space race, seem to have buried the hatchet—at least, publicly. Their friendly exchange on social media following the results of their respective rocket launches marks a possible end to their long-standing rivalry.

Elon Musk reposted a photo taken of him and Jeff Bezos at dinner together over twenty years ago. "Wow, a lot has happened in 21 years!" he wrote while reacting to the picture.

Blue Origin's New Glenn finally roared into orbit in the early hours of Thursday, with SpaceX's Starship rocket set to launch hours later.

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.

But no amount of ground testing or mission simulations is a replacement for flying this rocket," said Blue Origin via X. JEFF BEZOS, ELON MUSK SPACE RACE FEUD BACK ON AS BLUE ORIGIN ASKS FAAA TO ...

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