Launch of Amazon founder’s New Glenn craft on second attempt ramps up rivalry between tech billionaires
Blue Origin’s huge New Glenn rocket has blasted off from Florida on its first mission to space, an inaugural step into Earth’s orbit for Jeff Bezos’s space company as it aims to rival Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the satellite launch business.
Thirty storeys high with a reusable first stage filled with liquid oxygen and methane, New Glenn launched at about 2am ET (0700 GMT) from Blue Origin’s launchpad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force station under cloudy skies on its second attempt this week.
