In this communication, it is shown that a nondiffracting vortex beam (i.e., a higher order Bessel beam with azimuthal phase variation) can be generated in the near field by synthesizing an inward cylindrical traveling-wave distribution over a finite aperture antenna. A radial line slot array (RLSA) is then designed to prove the concept. The collimated vortex beam is excited in the proximity of the RLSA, within a region properly defined by the nondiffracting range of the generated beam. The radial dependence of the longitudinal electric field of the vortex-beam magnitude follows a first-order Bessel function, and its phase presents a linear azimuthal variation. Full-wave results validate the generation of the nondiffractive higher order Bessel beam within the radiative near field of the launcher.