New Glenn, developed by the private space firm founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, is on the pad at Cape Canaveral, Fla., and could launch on its maiden flight as early as Friday.

The scheduled Sunday launch could mark a new phase in competition in the commercial space market, and pave the way for the deployment of Amazon's Kuiper satellite network.

Jeff Bezos ‘s Blue Origin is set for an inaugural launch of its giant New Glenn rocket on Sunday, a long-awaited first leap to Earth orbit that sets up one of the biggest challenges yet to industry dominance enjoyed by Elon Musk ‘s SpaceX.