Blue Origin's first-ever orbital launch is all set with New Glenn rocket

Highly anticipated: It's been nearly 25 years since Jeff Bezos founded Blue Origin with grand ambitions of making space travel cheaper and more accessible. Yet, the Amazon mogul's rocket company has remained largely focused on suborbital missions. That could change in a big way very soon with the New Glenn rocket.

Blue Origin is readying its massive new New Glenn rocket for its first-ever orbital launch attempt, scheduled as early as 1 a.m. ET on Monday from Florida's Cape Canaveral.

Standing at approximately 320 feet tall, New Glenn boasts more than twice the power of SpaceX's frequently flown Falcon 9 rocket at liftoff. It has been specifically designed and engineered as a heavy-lift launch vehicle capable of hauling larger satellites and other gear into space.

As this is a debut mission, New Glenn will not be carrying any customer payloads. Instead, it will transport a ...