Blue Origin's giant New Glenn rocket blasted off from Florida on its first mission to space, an inaugural step into Earth's orbit for Jeff Bezos' space company as it aims to rival SpaceX in the satellite launch business.

Jeff Bezos ‘s Blue Origin is set for an inaugural launch of its giant New Glenn rocket on Sunday, a long-awaited first leap to Earth orbit that sets up one of the biggest challenges yet to industry dominance enjoyed by Elon Musk ‘s SpaceX.

After years of development, Blue Origin is finally ready to conduct the maiden test flight of the company’s New Glenn rocket. The flight is currently scheduled for a three-hour launch window on Friday, Jan. 10, starting at 1 am EST. The company plans to begin live streaming the event on BlueOrigin.com about an hour before the launch.

Blue Origin, the rocket company Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos founded, notched one of the most substantial successes in its history on Thursday: sending a rocket to orbit.

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin launched its first New Glenn rocket early Thursday morning from Florida, an inaugural step into Earth's orbit to rival SpaceX in the satellite launch market. (Reporting by Joey Roulette;

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's space company blasts its first rocket into orbit in a challenge to Elon Musk.

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.