Blue Origin is key to Amazon's ability to compete with SpaceX Starlink. Jeff Bezos has finally done it. He's finally reached space with an honest-to-goodness orbital-class rocket. Ten years ago, Bezos ignited a feud with SpaceX founder Elon Musk when his Blue Origin rocket company launched a suborbital New Shepard rocket to the edge of space and then landed it back on Earth.

Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, pulled off a daring booster catch on its most ambitious test flight yet, but the spacecraft was lost. Follow for the latest news.

By Joey Roulette WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A SpaceX Starship rocket broke up in space minutes after launching from Texas on Thursday, forcing airline flights over the Gulf of Mexico to alter course to avoid falling debris and setting back Elon Musk's flagship rocket program.

Hours after Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin nailed its first-ever orbital mission, SpaceX seized back the spotlight on Thursday as its latest test of Starship, its gargantuan next-generation mega rocket, ended with the upper stage dramatically disintegrating over the Atlantic.

SpaceX launched the seventh test flight of its Starship rocket on Thursday, but lost communication with the uncrewed upper stage of the rocket that continues on into space.

Despite the failure, Elon Musk appeared to see the bright side, posting: "Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!"

On Friday (Jan. 10), SpaceX successfully stacked its Starship spacecraft atop a giant Super Heavy booster to prepare for the next launch of the world's largest rocket next week. Liftoff is set for 5 p.m. EST (2200 GMT) on Monday (Jan. 13) from SpaceX's Starbase test site near Boca Chica Beach in South Texas.

Starship’s future ... Bezos and Musk have also butted heads in a purely business sense, as SpaceX and Amazon are slated to compete in the satellite internet business, and Bezos’ Blue Origin ...

Starship launched from SpaceX's private "Starbase" facility near ... space company Blue Origin will be bigger than $2 trillion Amazon Before losing communication, Starship was set to reach space ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A SpaceX Starship rocket broke up in space minutes ... The failure came a day after Blue Origin, billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' space company, successfully launched ...

SpaceX is set to launch the seventh test flight of its Starship megarocket today (Jan. 15) at 5 p.m. EST (2200 GMT), and you can watch the action live.

SpaceX mission control lost contact with the newly upgraded Starship, carrying its first test payload of mock satellites but no crew, eight minutes after liftoff.