By bizn_fun 
By Thomas Moore, science correspondent
The space race between the world’s two richest men is hotting up.
If Jeff Bezos’s rocket successfully launches two NASA space spacecraft – and then returns to Earth to be used again – it puts his New Origin company head-to-head with Elon Musk.
The two billionaires would both have re-usable mega-rockets. And they both want to dominate the new tech frontier in space.
The New Glenn rocket was due to launch NASA’s space probes on a mission to Mars on its first-ever flight last January, but the space agency got cold feet.
Too much of a risk for spacecraft that had taken years to build.
As it turned out, the launch was flawless, so NASA is on board for the second flight.
That’s a massive vote of confidence for the Bezos rocket.
But New Origin still needs to prove the rocket is reusable, or at least part of it is.
On the maiden flight, the first stage – which has the main engines and fuel tanks – was lost in space.
Second time around, the company will once again try to land it on a floating platform out at sea.
Re-usability matters.
That’s what has dramatically brought down the cost of launching satellites on Musk’s SpaceX rockets.
Bezos, the Amazon founder, needs to prove his rocket can deliver packages into the right orbit, on time. And also do it cheaply.
Then Musk has real competition.