Lauren Sánchez Bezos is sharing a behind-the-scenes glimpse of her husband Jeff Bezos during the launch of his New Glenn rocket.

Jeff Bezos has narrowed the gap with Elon Musk in the space race after successfully landing one of his reusable rockets for the first time. The Amazon founder, who owns space rocket maker Blue Origin, launched a probe to Mars late on Thursday powered by the company’s New Glenn rocket, which is set to compete with Mr Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

Blue Origin successfully launched and landed its New Glenn rocket in a major milestone for Jeff Bezos' space ambitions, drawing a public "congratulations" from rival Elon Musk as the competition with SpaceX intensifies.

Named after John Glenn, the first American to orbit the world, New Glenn is five times bigger than the New Shepard rockets sending wealthy clients to the edge of space from West Texas. Blue Origin plans to launch a prototype Blue Moon lunar lander on a demo mission in the coming months aboard New Glenn.

Blue Origin is the space company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos. The heavy-lift New Glenn rocket is set to lift off on its second flight, and Blue Origin will attempt to recover the rocket’s reusable first stage booster on a landing platform in the Atlantic Ocean.

Blue Origin's New Glenn, one of the largest active rockets in the world, will take flight from Florida to propel a landmark NASA mission to Mars.