After years of delays, the billionaire’s Blue Origin space company launched its New Glenn rocket early Thursday.

Jeff Bezos's space company Blue Origin has successfully launched its massive New Glenn rocket into orbit for the first time, marking a significant challenge to Elon Musk's dominance in the commercial space industry.

Founded 25 years ago by Bezos, Blue Origin has been launching paying passengers to the edge of space since 2021, including himself. The short hops from Texas use smaller rockets named after the first American in space, Alan Shepard. New Glenn, which honors John Glenn, is five times taller.