The NG-1 mission will carry a prototype of Blue Ring, a Defense Department-funded spacecraft envisioned as a versatile satellite deployment platform, which will remain on board the rocket's second stage for the six-hour test flight.

Nearly 25 years after Jeff Bezos founded Blue Origin, the company is finally poised to send its first rocket to orbit. New Glenn could lift off as early as next week.

Blue Origin, the private spaceflight company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, is on the cusp of launching into the big booster market with the debut of its New Glenn rocket next week, but exactly when the test flight will lift off is unclear.