The aerospace company, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to unfavorable meteorological factors at Cape Canaveral.
Launch Delay Causes
Precipitation and a ground system issue led to early setbacks, then came cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch closed, forcing mission controllers to push back 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 restricting commercial rocket liftoffs starting the beginning of the week.
After scrubbing the mission, Blue Origin announced on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was targeting a new try as soon as midweek within a window of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.
Launch Goals
When it eventually launches, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will carry the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of sending people there.
The mission will also act as a key test of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the company if accomplished.
Earlier Mission
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in the start of the year was considered a success, as its cargo reached space and successfully performed tests.
But its main rocket section, which was meant to be reusable, failed to make its touchdown on a platform in the ocean, and instead was lost during the return phase.
Landing Attempts
In its second effort the launch provider will make another attempt to land the booster stage.
Until now, only SpaceX has managed that feat.
Space Race
Rival firms of billionaires Bezos and Musk are engaged in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as NASA began accepting proposals for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was lagging behind.
Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government push the agency to speed up its progress to send a crewed mission to the Moon in competition against China.
More rivalry between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.”
“More launches means greater innovation in space,” an ex-agency official said. “It can’t be a bad thing to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”
