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.

After years of delays, the billionaire’s Blue Origin space company launched its New Glenn rocket early Thursday.

It was a triumph for Jeff Bezos as his rocket ship, New Glenn, blasted off. The Amazon founder watched from the control center as Blue Origin employees across the nation celebrated. It's the first successful rocket launch from Bezos' company.