Bezos’ space company Blue Origin started at about the same time as Musk’s SpaceX but since then Musk’s firm has launched more than 400 of its Falcon 9 rockets into orbit and is testing out its giant Starship rocket which it hopes will send astronauts to the Moon and one day possibly on to Mars.

The 320-foot New Glenn rocket was supposed to blast off before dawn with a prototype satellite from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin has called off the launch of its New Glenn rocket from Florida at the last minute after a “few anomalies” were found during mission countdown.