Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to delay the highly anticipated liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to unfavorable meteorological factors at Cape Canaveral.
Launch Delay Causes
Rainfall and a ground system issue led to initial delays, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, leaving managers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.
Competition between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been heating up in recent months.
New Launch Window
To relieve airspace congestion during the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs from the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the launch, Blue Origin announced on Sunday evening that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as Wednesday within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.
Mission Objectives
Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will carry the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, in an effort to examine the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of sending people there.
The mission will also serve as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would prove a major advancement for the company if accomplished.
Earlier Mission
The rocket's first launch in January was marked as a achievement, as its cargo reached space and successfully performed tests.
But its first-stage booster, which was designed as recoverable, did not stick its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during descent.
Recovery Efforts
In its second effort the launch provider will make another attempt to recover the first stage.
Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment.
Space Race
Rival firms of billionaires Bezos and Musk are locked in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as the space agency began accepting proposals for its lunar exploration program, complaining that SpaceX was lagging behind.
Donald Trump’s second term has involved the government push the agency to accelerate its timeline to launch astronauts to the Moon in competition against China.
More rivalry between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means more ideas in space,” an ex-agency official said. “It isn't a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”
