Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's space company has blasted its first rocket into orbit in a bid to challenge the dominance of Elon Musk's SpaceX. The New Glenn rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 02:02 local time (07:02 GMT).

SpaceX, the private space technology company owned by Elon Musk, is asking federal authorities to approve a new round of tests for a prototype reusable rocket, but some of them may never make it back to the surface intact and will crash in the ocean.

Flights across the Caribbean were hastily diverted on Thursday following the explosion of a rocket built by Elon Musk's company, SpaceX. The chaos was revealed in flight tracking data and audio exchanges between pilots and air traffic control, as reviewed by NPR.

Passengers on Qantas flights between Sydney and Johannesburg have encountered unexpected delays recently, with the airline attributing the disruptions to falling rocket debris from Elon Musk ’s SpaceX. The southern Indian Ocean, a region frequently crossed by Qantas flights, has become a designated splashdown zone for re-entering SpaceX rockets.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX could threaten the US Space Council’s longevity under the new Trump administration. Lobbyers and Trump's aids have reportedly been pushing to axe the group as they see it as a waste of time.