The aerospace company, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the highly anticipated liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday because of adverse weather conditions at the Florida launch site.
Mission Postponement Reasons
Precipitation and a ground system issue led to initial delays, then came cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window ended, forcing mission controllers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been intensifying in the past few months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To ease traffic in the skies during the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is restricting private space launches from Monday.
After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin said on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was aiming for another attempt as early as Wednesday within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.
Launch Goals
Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will carry the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to the Red Planet, to study the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of sending people there.
Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a key test of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would represent a major advancement for the company if accomplished.
Earlier Mission
New Glenn’s inaugural flight 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 designed as recoverable, did not stick its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and instead was lost during descent.
Landing Attempts
For this new mission the launch provider will try once more to recover the booster stage.
Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.
Space Race
The competing companies of billionaires Musk and Bezos are engaged in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency began accepting bids for its planned moon mission, noting that one company was falling behind schedule.
Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government push NASA to accelerate its timeline to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface in competition against China.
Increased competition between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means more ideas in space,” an ex-agency official said. “It can’t be a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”
