Today’s launch isn’t Blue Origin’s first foray into the space industry spotlight.

The company gained international attention in 2021 with the first flight of its New Shepard rocket, designed for 10-minute ascents and descents at the edge of space.

Since then, the company has flown a total of nine crewed missions and carried a total of nearly 50 passengers. The crew included famed “Star Trek” actor William Shatner, television host Michael Strahan and science communicator Emily Calandrelli.

New Glenn, however, is a completely different beast.

While New Shepard aims to merely reach an altitude mark – the so-called Kármán line – to touch space, New Glenn will attempt to reach orbit, a feat many times greater than New Shepard’s suborbital flights in terms of strength and speed.

Just consider the size difference: New Shepard is about 18 meters tall, while New Glenn is 98 meters tall.

Blue Origin notes that the New Shepard’s entire vehicle fits easily into the New Glenn’s cargo hold.

And while New Shepard’s single rocket engine can accelerate the vehicle up to about three times the speed of sound on short pleasure rides, New Glenn aims for speeds of over 17,500 miles per hour (28,164 kilometers per hour), which is almost 23 times the speed of sound.

However, note that there are currently no plans to fly people on New Glenn.

Instead, the rocket is designed to carry giant spacecraft, smaller satellites and other payloads, such as parts of an orbital space station.