Blue Origin, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend because of unfavorable meteorological conditions at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Causes
Precipitation and a ground system issue led to early setbacks, then came thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch closed, leaving mission controllers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Competition between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been intensifying in the past few months.
New Launch Window
To relieve traffic in the skies during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is limiting private space launches from the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the mission, the company said on Sunday evening that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was targeting another attempt as soon as midweek within a window of afternoon hours EST.
Mission Objectives
Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will carry the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to Mars, to study the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of human exploration.
Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a key test of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would prove a major advancement for the company if accomplished.
Previous Flight
The rocket's first launch in January was considered a success, as its cargo achieved orbit and completed experiments.
But its main rocket section, which was meant to be reusable, did not stick its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during descent.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission the launch provider will make another attempt to recover the booster stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment.
Industry Competition
The competing companies of billionaires Bezos and Musk are engaged in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as NASA began accepting proposals for its planned moon mission, noting that one company was falling behind schedule.
The current administration has seen the administration push NASA to speed up its progress to send a crewed mission to the Moon amid a race with China.
Increased competition between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means more ideas in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It can’t be a bad thing to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”
