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 successfully launched its two-stage heavy-lift New Glenn rocket on its unmanned maiden voyage into space early Thursday, achieving the mission's primary goal of reaching orbit. The rocket launched shortly after 2 a.

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.