Blue Origin successfully launched its New Glenn rocket into orbit Thursday morning.

With it, the New Glenn toted its Blue Ring Pathfinder, a prototype to help satellites maneuver in space, which can tow some 6,600 pounds and travel to different orbits as far as the moon.

“Today marks a new era for Blue Origin and for commercial space,” said New Glenn Senior Vice President Jarrett Jones. “We’re focused on ramping our launch cadence and manufacturing rates.”

Eventually, the goal is to send New Glenn rockets every month. The rocket’s first booster was meant to land on a floating platform in the Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff, which had previously delayed the launch when the waters were rough. This booster, meant to be reusable from launch to launch, was ultimately lost as it fell back to Earth.

“We knew landing our booster, So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance, on the first try was an ambitious goal,” said Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp. “We’ll learn a lot from today and try again at our next launch this spring. Thank you to all of Team Blue for this incredible milestone.”  

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Blue Ring Pathway’s possible ability to put satellites into defensive and offensive positions piqued the interest of the Department of Defense and prompted its Defense Innovation Unit to sponsor the project.

The space company, owned by Jeff Bezos, who started it 25 years ago, has seen success with its New Shepard passenger rockets, which take paying customers into space from Texas. However, at 320 feet, New Glenn is five times taller than the New Shepard rocket.