🔗 Share this article

The aerospace company, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the eagerly awaited launch of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to unfavorable meteorological factors at the Florida launch site.

Mission Postponement Reasons

Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground caused early setbacks, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, leaving mission controllers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.

Competition between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in the past few months.

New Launch Window

To relieve traffic in the skies amid the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is limiting private space launches starting Monday.

After scrubbing the mission, the company announced late Sunday that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as Wednesday within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time.

Mission Objectives

When it eventually launches, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will transport NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to Mars, in an effort to examine the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of human exploration.

The mission will also act as a key test of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the firm if accomplished.

Previous Flight

The rocket's first launch in January was marked as a achievement, as its cargo achieved orbit and completed tests.

But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be recoverable, did not stick its landing on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during descent.

Landing Attempts

In its second effort Blue Origin will try once more to recover the first stage.

Until now, only SpaceX has managed that feat.

Industry Competition

Rival firms of tycoons Bezos and Musk are engaged in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as NASA began accepting bids for its planned moon mission, noting that SpaceX was lagging behind.

Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government push the agency to accelerate its progress to send a crewed mission to the Moon amid a race with China.

More rivalry between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to liftoff.”

“Additional missions means more ideas in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”