Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday because of unfavorable weather factors at Cape Canaveral.
Mission Postponement Causes
Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground led to early setbacks, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch ended, leaving mission controllers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.
Competition between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been heating up in recent months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To ease traffic in the skies during the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is limiting private space launches starting the beginning of the week.
After scrubbing the mission, the company said on Sunday evening that, working alongside the FAA, it was targeting another attempt as soon as midweek within a window of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.
Mission Objectives
Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will carry NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of human exploration.
The mission will also serve as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would represent a major advancement for the company if accomplished.
Previous Flight
The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was marked as a achievement, as its cargo achieved orbit and completed tests.
But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be reusable, did not stick its touchdown on a platform in the ocean, and instead was lost during the return phase.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission Blue Origin will try once more to land the booster stage.
Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that feat.
Space Race
Rival firms of billionaires Musk and Bezos are engaged in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, 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 NASA to accelerate its timeline to launch astronauts to the Moon amid a race with China.
More rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.”
“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.”
