Founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin is counting down toward a 1 a.m. EST (0600 GMT) launch on Friday of its brand-new New Glenn rocket from Space Launch Complex 36 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. It's the debut flight of what Blue Origin hopes will be a partially reusable workhorse rocket for years to come.

Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket is the company's first orbital-class launch vehicle. It stands a towering 320 feet tall (98 meters). It features a reusable first stage designed to return to Earth after launch and land on a barge named Jacklyn, after Jeff Bezos ' mother, in the Atlantic Ocean.