The aerospace company, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the highly anticipated liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend because of adverse weather conditions at the Florida launch site.
Mission Postponement Causes
Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground led to initial delays, then came cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch closed, leaving managers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Competition between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been intensifying in the past few months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To ease traffic in the skies during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs starting the beginning of the week.
After scrubbing the mission, the company said late Sunday that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as midweek within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.
Mission Objectives
When it eventually launches, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will carry the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to Mars, in an effort to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of human exploration.
Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a crucial trial of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would represent a major advancement for the firm if accomplished.
Previous Flight
The rocket's first launch in January was marked as a achievement, as its payload achieved orbit and successfully performed tests.
But its first-stage booster, which was designed as reusable, did not stick its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during descent.
Landing Attempts
In its second effort the launch provider will make another attempt to land the first stage.
Until now, only SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment.
Industry Competition
Rival firms of billionaires Musk and Bezos are engaged in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency opened up bids for its lunar exploration program, complaining that one company was lagging behind.
Donald Trump’s second term has involved the administration push NASA to accelerate its progress to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface in competition against the Asian nation.
More rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to liftoff.”
“More launches means more ideas in orbit,” an ex-agency official stated. “It can’t be a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”
