Jeff Bezos finally gave the world a peek at his rocket.

The billionaire founder of Amazon.com has an interest in space, and more than enough money to pursue his interests. In 2000, he registered a company, Blue Origin, and hired rocket scientists. But the company has been obsessively secretive.

The last time Mr. Bezos gave out any kind of real information, he walked into the offices of The Van Horn Advocate in West Texas to tell the editor that he had bought 165,000 acres nearby and would be testing rockets there. When the company performed the first test launching on Nov. 13, it made no announcement.

And that was it, pretty much, until last week, when the Blue Origin Web site (www.blueorigin.com) showed the first pictures and video of a gumdrop-shaped test craft, dubbed Goddard, rising from the West Texas launch site to 285 feet and then, eerily, returning gently to the pad.

Image The rocket Goddard just before its test launching in West Texas. Credit... Blue Origin

The announcement was, for the most part, a come-on for rocket scientists — or, as Mr. Bezos put it on the site, “hard working, technically gifted, team-oriented, experienced” aerospace engineers — to continue development of what the company calls its “New Shepard” spacecraft.