The aerospace company, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the highly anticipated launch of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to adverse meteorological conditions at Cape Canaveral.
Mission Postponement Causes
Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground caused early setbacks, then came cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window closed, leaving mission controllers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.
Rivalry between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been heating up in recent months.
New Launch Window
To ease traffic in the skies amid the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is limiting private space launches starting the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the launch, Blue Origin said on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was aiming for a new try as soon as Wednesday within a window of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.
Launch Goals
When it eventually launches, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will transport the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to Mars, to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of sending people there.
Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a key test of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the firm if successful.
Previous Flight
The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was considered a achievement, as its cargo achieved orbit and successfully performed tests.
But its main rocket section, which was meant to be reusable, failed to make its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during descent.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the booster stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment.
Industry Competition
The competing companies of billionaires Musk and Bezos are locked in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as NASA began accepting proposals for its planned moon mission, complaining that one company was falling behind schedule.
Donald Trump’s second term has involved the government push the agency to speed up its timeline to send a crewed mission to the Moon amid a race with the Asian nation.
Increased competition between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.”
“Additional missions means more ideas in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It can’t be a negative to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”
