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.

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.

The New Glenn makes it safely into orbit for the inaugural test flight of a rocket that could rival those in Elon Musk's SpaceX fleet.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (and many others) posted pics of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket, named for astronaut John Glenn, on social after liftoff.

The launch was a first for the Jeff Bezos-founded Blue Origin. Here's what the New Glenn rocket accomplished, and what's next.

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin on Monday called off its inaugural launch of its New Glenn rocket after a number of last-minute issues – hurting the space firm in its race to compete with Elon Musk’s dominant SpaceX. The 320-foot rocket was scheduled to blast off from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 1 a.m. ET before the launch was aborted.

The first-ever launch of the New Glenn represents a major milestone for the Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, whose Blue Origin spaceflight company has now officially entered the orbital launch market and heavy-lift space industry, setting it up to compete with the likes of Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin rocket, the New Glenn, lifted off successfully early Thursday after a short delay, making it's first ever launch into orbit.

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin launches its massive new rocket, called the New Glenn, into orbit the Earth on its first test flight. The space company attempted to land the rocket’s booster on a barrage in the Atlantic Ocean,

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Blue Origin's successful maiden launch of New Glenn rocket made billionaire Jeff Bezos hungry. He ate breakfast at a Space Coast diner in Florida after