A rocket belonging to Blue Origin, the private-spaceflight company owned by Jeff Bezos, has for the first time successfully taken off vertically, left the Earth’s atmosphere and entered space, and successfully landed intact and vertically.
The rocket, called Blue Shepard, has effectively won a race with Space X, the aerospace firm owned by Elon Musk.
Space X’s Falcon 9 rocket has so far failed two attempts to land safely on its barge in the ocean.
Musk was quick to point out that the Blue Origin rocket had not entered orbit, as Space X’s Falcon 9 did.