Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to delay the highly anticipated launch of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to unfavorable meteorological factors at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Causes
Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground led to early setbacks, followed by thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window closed, leaving mission controllers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in the past few months.
New Launch Window
To relieve traffic in the skies amid the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs from the beginning of the week.
After scrubbing the mission, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was aiming for a new try as early as midweek within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time.
Launch Goals
When it eventually launches, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will transport the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, to study the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of sending people there.
The mission will also act as a key test of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the firm if successful.
Previous Flight
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was marked as a success, as its payload achieved orbit and completed experiments.
But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be recoverable, failed to make its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and instead was lost during descent.
Recovery Efforts
In its second effort Blue Origin will make another attempt to land the first stage.
Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has managed that feat.
Space Race
Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are locked in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as NASA began accepting proposals for its lunar exploration program, complaining that SpaceX was lagging behind.
Donald Trump’s second term has seen the administration pile pressure on NASA to accelerate its progress to send a crewed mission to the Moon amid a race with China.
More rivalry between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.”
“More launches means more ideas in orbit,” an ex-agency official said. “It can’t be a bad thing to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”
