In an email to employees, the company’s chief executive said the company had become bloated during its growth in recent years.

New Glenn, which has been in development for about a decade, can carry 50 tons (45 metric tons) of payload to low Earth orbit (LEO). Its 23-foot-wide (7 m) payload fairing — the shell that surrounds and protects satellites during launch — is larger than that of any operational rocket.

Jeff Bezos's rocket company Blue Origin is laying off around 10 percent of its workforce following a period of rapid expansion, the firm's chief executive told staff on Thursday.