The aerospace company, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the highly anticipated liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to unfavorable meteorological conditions at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Reasons
Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground led to early setbacks, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window closed, leaving mission controllers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Rivalry between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been intensifying in recent months.
New Launch Window
To relieve traffic in the skies amid the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting private space launches starting the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the launch, the company announced late Sunday that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was targeting a new try as soon as midweek within a time slot of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.
Mission Objectives
When it eventually launches, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will transport the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to the Red Planet, in an effort to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of human exploration.
The mission will also act as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the firm if successful.
Previous Flight
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in the start of the year was marked as a success, as its cargo achieved orbit and completed tests.
But its main rocket section, which was meant to be recoverable, failed to make its landing on a platform in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.
Landing Attempts
For this new mission Blue Origin will try once more to recover the booster stage.
Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that feat.
Industry Competition
The competing companies of tycoons Musk and Bezos are locked in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency opened up proposals for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was falling behind schedule.
The current administration has involved the government pile pressure on the agency to accelerate its progress to launch astronauts 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 greater innovation in orbit,” an ex-agency official said. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”
