🔗 Share this article

The aerospace company, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited launch of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday because of adverse meteorological conditions at Cape Canaveral.

Launch Delay Causes

Precipitation and a ground system issue caused early setbacks, then came cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch ended, forcing mission controllers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.

Competition between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been intensifying in the past few months.

Rescheduled Attempt

To relieve airspace congestion during the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting private space launches from Monday.

After scrubbing the mission, Blue Origin said late Sunday that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as midweek within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.

Launch Goals

Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will transport NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, to study the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of human exploration.

The mission will also serve as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the firm if accomplished.

Previous Flight

The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was considered a achievement, as its cargo reached space and successfully performed tests.

But its main rocket section, which was meant to be recoverable, did not stick its touchdown on a platform in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during descent.

Landing Attempts

In its second effort Blue Origin will make another attempt to land the booster stage.

Until now, only SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.

Space Race

Rival firms of tycoons Bezos and Musk are locked in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as the space agency opened up bids for its lunar exploration program, noting that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.

Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government pile pressure on the agency to accelerate its timeline to launch astronauts to the Moon in competition against the Asian nation.

Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.”

“More launches means more ideas in space,” an ex-agency official said. “It can’t be a bad thing to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”