Florida’s sky briefly lit up during the night as one of a handful of big new American-made rockets took flight. It was the first time a new space company achieved orbit on the first launch attempt.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' space dreams are taking flight on a new level. On Thursday, Bezos' Blue Origin company launched its big rocket, called New Glenn. It lifted off at 2:30 a.m. ET from Launch Complex 36 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida,

Blue Origin's New Glenn successfully reached orbit on its first-ever flight, putting it in competition with SpaceX for heavy-lift missions.