A BATTLE of billionaires will escalate this week as Jeff Bezos prepares for a daring rocket launch to rival Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The Amazon founder’s space company Blue Origin is set to

Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket is poised for its inaugural launch, competing directly with SpaceX in the orbital market. The mission will test a spacecraft funded by the US Department of Defense, enhancing the rivalry between Bezos and Musk in commercial space exploration.

As the test was complete, Blue Origin's billionaire founder Jeff Bezos posted a video of the rocket during the test with a caption, "Next stop launch." His post drew a response from rival and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk who wished him "Godspeed!", an expression used to wish someone starting a journey. Bezos replied with a praying hands emoji.

Standing 98 meters tall, the New Glenn rocket can transport up to 45 tons to low Earth orbit, more than double SpaceX's Falcon 9 capacity of 23 tons but less than the Falcon Heavy's 63.8 tons.

Blue Origin, the aerospace company founded by Jeff Bezos, is preparing for a landmark moment in its journey into the orbital launch market. Its first orbital rocket, New Glenn, is set to launch as early as Wednesday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida,