While Jeff Bezos has spent $14 billion to achieve his first space launch, his billionaire rival has built a thriving business, mostly with other people’s money.

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.

Despite the failure, Elon Musk appeared to see the bright side, posting: "Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!"

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.

The billionaire space race entered a new phase today when Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin successfully launched its 320-foot-tall New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

SpaceX's seventh Starship test flight will now launch no earlier than Thursday, Jan. 16, at 5 p.m. EST (2200 GMT).

Hours after Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin nailed its first-ever orbital mission, SpaceX seized back the spotlight on Thursday as its latest test of Starship, its gargantuan next-generation megarocket, ended with the upper stage dramatically disintegrating over the Atlantic.

SpaceX's Starship will fly for the seventh time ever early next week, if all goes according to plan. SpaceX announced today (Jan. 8) that it's targeting Monday (Jan. 13) for Flight 7 of Starship, the 400-foot-tall (122 meters), fully reusable megarocket designed to help humanity settle the moon and Mars.

Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, known for their business rivalry, exchanged congratulatory messages after successful rocket launches by Blue Origin and Spac

The Amazon founder’s space company marked a major milestone Thursday with the first test flight of its New Glenn rocket.

Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, pulled off a daring booster catch on its most ambitious test flight yet, but the spacecraft was lost. Follow for the latest news.