Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the highly anticipated liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday because of unfavorable weather factors at the Florida launch site.
Mission Postponement Causes
Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground led to early setbacks, followed by thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, forcing managers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been intensifying in recent months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To relieve airspace congestion amid the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs starting the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the mission, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, in coordination with the FAA, it was aiming for another attempt as early as Wednesday within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.
Launch Goals
Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will carry the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, in an effort to study the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of human exploration.
The mission will also act as a crucial trial of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the company if accomplished.
Previous Flight
The rocket's first launch in January was marked as a success, as its payload reached space and completed tests.
But its main rocket section, which was designed as recoverable, failed to make its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.
Landing Attempts
For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the booster stage.
Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has managed that feat.
Industry Competition
The competing companies of billionaires Bezos and Musk are engaged in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as NASA began accepting proposals for its planned moon mission, noting that SpaceX was lagging behind.
The current administration has seen the government pile pressure on the agency to speed up its timeline to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface amid a race with the Asian nation.
Increased competition between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to launch.”
“More launches means greater innovation in orbit,” an ex-agency official said. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”
