Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the eagerly awaited launch of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday due to unfavorable weather conditions at Cape Canaveral.
Mission Postponement Reasons
Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground caused initial delays, then came thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch closed, leaving mission controllers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Rivalry between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in recent months.
New Launch Window
To relieve traffic in the skies during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs from Monday.
Following the cancellation of the launch, the company said late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as Wednesday within a time slot of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time.
Launch Goals
When it eventually launches, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will transport the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to Mars, to examine the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of human exploration.
The mission will also serve as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the company if accomplished.
Previous Flight
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in the start of the year was considered a achievement, as its cargo reached space and successfully performed experiments.
But its first-stage booster, which was designed as reusable, did not stick its landing on a platform in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.
Landing Attempts
For this new mission the launch provider will try once more to land 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 locked in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency began accepting bids for its planned moon mission, complaining that one company was falling behind schedule.
Donald Trump’s second term has seen the administration push NASA to accelerate its progress to launch astronauts to the Moon amid a race with the Asian nation.
More rivalry between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to launch.”
“More launches means greater innovation in orbit,” an ex-agency official stated. “It can’t be a bad thing to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”
