Blue Origin continued to prep for the maiden flight of its massive New Glenn rocket as it went vertical on the launch pad Thursday ahead of an upcoming hot fire test needed before a launch attempt that is targeting before the end of the year.

New Glenn rocket’s two stages successfully assembled for first flight Maiden flight of New Glenn rocket scheduled for Blue Origin’s Blue Ring spacecraft to debut on National Security mission

New Glenn was stacked at Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, which is next door to NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Blue Origin has not announced an official launch date for the big new rocket, but media reports have suggested it could occur in late 2024.

Blue Origin now has a rocket nearly in one piece as it mated the first and second stages this week of what will be the first ever New Glenn launch from Cape Canaveral.

Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket is on track for its first launch before the end of 2024. The rocket, named after John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, has its first major customer, AST SpaceMobile,