The aerospace company, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to unfavorable meteorological conditions at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Reasons
Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground caused initial delays, then came cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch closed, leaving mission controllers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.
Competition between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in recent months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To ease airspace congestion during the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs starting Monday.
After scrubbing the mission, Blue Origin announced on Sunday evening that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for a new try as early as Wednesday within a window of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.
Launch Goals
When it eventually launches, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will carry the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of human exploration.
Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a key test of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would represent a technical breakthrough 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 payload reached space and successfully performed tests.
But its main rocket section, which was designed as reusable, did not stick its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during descent.
Landing Attempts
For this new mission the launch provider will make another attempt to land the first stage.
Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that feat.
Space Race
The competing companies of tycoons Bezos and Musk are locked in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as the space agency opened up proposals for its lunar exploration program, complaining that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.
Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government push NASA to speed up its timeline to send a crewed mission to the Moon amid a race with China.
More rivalry between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to launch.”
“More launches means greater innovation in space,” an ex-agency official stated. “It can’t be a negative to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”
