Named New Glenn, it is targeting a liftoff no earlier than Friday, January 10 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, the company said in a statement late Monday.

"The three-hour launch window opens at" 1:00 am (0600 GMT), it added.

The NG-1 mission will carry a prototype of Blue Ring, a US Defense Department-funded spacecraft envisioned as a versatile satellite deployment platform, which will remain on board the rocket's second stage for the duration of the six-hour test flight.

It will mark Blue Origin's long-awaited entry into the lucrative orbital launch market after years of suborbital flights with its smaller New Shepard rocket, which carries passengers and payloads on brief trips to the edge of space.

"This is our first flight and we've prepared rigorously for it," said New Glenn's senior vice president Jarrett Jones in the statement.

"But no amount of ground testing or mission simulations are a replacement for flying this rocket. It's time to fly. No matter what happens, we'll learn, refine, and apply that knowledge to our next launch," he added.

The milestone will also escalate the rivalry between Bezos, the world's second-richest person, and Musk, the wealthiest, who has cemented SpaceX's dominance and is now in President-elect Donald Trump's inner circle.

bur-sn/mtp

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