Bezos’ Blue Origin Lofts NASA Craft, Nails Booster Landing (3)

Blue Origin LLC launched its flagship New Glenn rocket to space and successfully deployed two Mars-bound NASA spacecraft on Thursday in a major feat for the Jeff Bezos-backed company in its quest to compete with SpaceX.

The rocket, roughly 320-feet (97.5 meters) tall, thundered off the launchpad at 3:55 p.m. New York time.

A few minutes after liftoff, the rocket’s lower portion separated from its upper stage, which continued on its journey to space. The rocket’s booster then descended back to Earth, where it fired engines to slow itself down and landed on a barge in the Atlantic ...