New Glenn launched for the first time ever this morning (Jan. 16), rising off a pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station here on Florida's Space Coast at 2:03 a.m. EST (0703 GMT). About 12.5 minutes later, the rocket's upper stage reached orbit - the main goal of today's test flight, which the company called NG-1.

"We got to orbit safely," Ariane Cornell, vice president of in-space systems at Blue Origin, said in the company's launch webcast. "Congratulations, everybody. What a day!"