The aerospace company, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to delay the highly anticipated launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to unfavorable weather conditions at Cape Canaveral.
Mission Postponement Causes
Rainfall and a ground system issue caused early setbacks, followed by thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch closed, forcing managers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Competition between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in recent months.
New Launch Window
To ease airspace congestion amid the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is restricting private space launches from Monday.
After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, in coordination with the FAA, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as Wednesday within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.
Launch Goals
When it eventually launches, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will carry the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to Mars, to examine the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of human exploration.
Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a key test of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the company if successful.
Earlier Mission
The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was marked as a success, as its cargo reached space and successfully performed tests.
But its main rocket section, which was meant to be reusable, failed to make its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and instead was lost during descent.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission the launch provider will try once more to land the booster stage.
Until now, only SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.
Industry Competition
Rival firms of billionaires Musk and Bezos are engaged in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as NASA opened up proposals for its planned moon mission, noting that one company was falling behind schedule.
The current administration has involved the administration pile pressure on NASA to speed up its progress to launch astronauts to the Moon in competition against the Asian nation.
Increased competition between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.”
“More launches means more ideas in space,” an ex-agency official stated. “It isn't a negative to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”
