Named after the first American to orbit Earth, the New Glenn rocket blasted off from Florida.
Blue Origin, the company founded by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, launched its massive new rocket on its first test flight on Thursday and sent a prototype satellite into orbit.
The nearly 100-metre rocket carried an experimental platform designed to host satellites or release them into their proper orbits.
The satellite was expected to remain inside the second stage while circling Earth.
The mission was expected to last six hours, with the second stage then placed in a safe condition to stay in a high, out-of-the-way orbit in accordance with NASA’s practices for minimising space junk.
The first-stage booster missed its landing on a barge in the Atlantic minutes after liftoff so it could be recycled, but the company stressed that its objective was for the test satellite to reach orbit.
“What a fantastic day,” said Blue Origin’s launch commentator Ariane Cornell.
New Glenn was supposed to fly before dawn Monday, but ice buildup in critical plumbing caused a delay.
The rocket is built to haul spacecraft and eventually astronauts to orbit and also the Moon.
