It took a while, but investors and space enthusiasts are finally getting the drama they have been looking for: David versus Goliath, but in space. SpaceX, owned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, is set to test its huge Starship launch vehicle on Thursday afternoon.

Blue Origin's New Glenn finally roared into orbit in the early hours of Thursday, with SpaceX's Starship rocket set to launch hours later.

Jeff Bezos' spaceflight company Blue Origin on Thursday launched its new mega-rocket, called New Glenn, into orbit for the first time. The rocket lifted

SpaceX's billionaire boss Elon Musk on Thursday congratulated Jeff Bezos, founder of rival space company Blue Origin, after the firm launched its New Glenn rocket into orbit for the first time.

The world’s second richest man suffered an embarrassing botched launch of his new rocket system just hours after shrugging off speculation he might be intimidated by Elon Musk having the incoming president’s ear on all things off-world.

Named after the first American to orbit Earth, the New Glenn rocket blasted off from Florida, soaring from the same pad used to launch NASA’s Mariner and Pioneer spacecraft a half-century ago.

Tesla CEO and Amazon founder vie for dominance of satellite launch market and could influence Nasa plans to return to Moon

The New Glenn rocket was due to take off from Cape Canaveral in Florida for the first time in the early hours of Monday morning but the launch was cancelled after several delays

Shrugging off bad weather, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin launched its powerful New Glenn rocket on its maiden flight early Thursday, lighting up a cloudy overnight sky as it climbed away from Cape Canaveral in a high-stakes bid to compete with Elon Musk's industry-leading SpaceX.

Blue Origin and SpaceX both launched rockets on 16 January, but while Jeff Bezos' company saw a launch success with New Glenn, Elon Musk's Starship exploded. What does this mean for the future of the space industry?

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's space company has blasted its first rocket into orbit in a bid to challenge the dominance of Elon Musk's SpaceX. The New Glenn rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 02:02 local time (07:02 GMT).