The aerospace company, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the eagerly awaited launch of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to unfavorable weather factors at Cape Canaveral.
Launch Delay Causes
Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground led to initial delays, then came thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch ended, forcing mission controllers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Rivalry between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been intensifying in recent months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To relieve airspace congestion amid the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs from Monday.
After scrubbing the mission, the company said late Sunday that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as Wednesday within a time slot of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.
Launch Goals
When it eventually launches, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will carry the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, to study the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of sending people there.
The mission will also act as a key test of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would prove a major advancement for the firm if accomplished.
Earlier Mission
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was marked as a success, as its cargo reached space and successfully performed experiments.
But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be reusable, failed to make its landing on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and instead was lost during the return phase.
Recovery Efforts
In its second effort Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the first stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.
Space Race
The competing companies of billionaires Bezos and Musk are engaged in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as NASA began accepting proposals for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was falling behind schedule.
Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government pile pressure on the agency to accelerate its timeline to send a crewed mission to the Moon in competition against the Asian nation.
More rivalry between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“More launches means greater innovation in space,” an ex-agency official said. “It can’t be a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”
