Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin joined the billionaire’s space race in earnest when its New Glenn rocket roared from a launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in the early morning hours of Jan. 16. The second stage with the Blue Ring payload successfully reached orbit. However, an attempt to land the first stage on a drone ship failed.

Still, the successful launch represents a triumph for the rival rocket company to Elon Musk’s SpaceX. It promises to change the economics of space travel, at least in the short term. The success occurred on the first try.

The launch of New Glenn was a long time coming, with development starting as early as 2012. Eric Berger of Ars Technica suggested on X that a leadership change at Blue Origin led to success after a long, plodding process.

“The hiring of Dave Limp as CEO of Blue Origin, and subsequent launch of New Glenn only a little more than a year later, underscores the importance of leadership in aerospace. Multiple sources report a major culture change at Blue vectored toward results.”

The Federal Aviation Administration is requiring an investigation over the failure to land the first........

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