Jeff Bezos' aerospace company Blue Origin has launched a new giant rocket called New Glenn into orbit for the first time.

The rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 2:03 a.m. ET on January 16 and crossed the official border into space minutes later. Shortly after, a second-stage burn put the rocket's upper section into orbit around Earth.

Although this was the rocket's first launch, many things went smoothly, and the company said safely reaching orbit was its main goal. But the rocket's first stage exploded on its way back to Earth as Blue Origin attempted to land it on a drone ship at sea.

“I’m incredibly proud of New Glenn for reaching orbit on its first try,” Dave Limp, a former Amazon executive and Blue Origin CEO, said in a statement. “We know that on the first Landing our booster in one attempt, 'So You Told Me There Was a Chance', is an ambitious goal we'll learn a lot from today and try again in the next launch this spring. The entire team achieved this incredible milestone.”

The successful launch kicks off a new era for Blue Origin, which until now has been stuck with a rocket (called New Shepard) that wasn't designed to reach orbit, limiting its usefulness. Blue Origin needs New Glenn to succeed in order to build a solid launch business to compete with Elon Musk's SpaceX, which has dominated the industry in recent years.

New Glenn, which debuted in 2016, is 320 feet tall and powered by seven BE-4 engines, also designed by Blue Origin. The company initially hoped to launch the giant rocket as early as 2021. But the costly development process took longer than expected. In the process, Blue Origin has been embroiled in legal disputes with NASA and SpaceX over launch contracts, and has been accused by multiple employees of cutting corners on safety.

Blue Origin now hopes to use New Glenn to launch satellites and other spacecraft, including one it designs for the moon. The company already has contracts with NASA, the Space Force, Amazon's Kuiper Project and more.

It also hopes to one day send astronauts to the moon as part of NASA's Artemis program. That said, NASA's focus always changes with the political winds, and Musk, who has developed a deep relationship with incoming President Donald Trump, said "the moon is a distraction." Bezos told reporters this week that he sees room for "multiple winners" in the industry.