The aerospace company, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to adverse weather factors at Cape Canaveral.
Mission Postponement Reasons
Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground caused early setbacks, followed by thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch closed, leaving mission controllers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been intensifying in the past few months.
New Launch Window
To relieve traffic in the skies amid the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs from Monday.
Following the cancellation of the mission, Blue Origin said on Sunday evening that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for a new try as early as Wednesday within a time slot of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.
Mission Objectives
When it eventually launches, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will carry the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to Mars, in an effort to examine the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of sending people there.
Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve 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 marked as a achievement, as its cargo achieved orbit and successfully performed experiments.
But its first-stage booster, which was designed as recoverable, failed to make its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during descent.
Recovery Efforts
In its second effort Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the first stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has achieved that feat.
Space Race
The competing companies of tycoons Bezos and Musk are locked in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as NASA began accepting bids for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was lagging behind.
Donald Trump’s second term has involved the administration pile pressure on the agency to speed up its timeline to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface amid a race with the Asian nation.
Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.”
“Additional missions means greater innovation in space,” an ex-agency official stated. “It isn't a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”
