🔗 Share this article

The aerospace company, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend because of adverse weather conditions at Cape Canaveral.

Mission Postponement Causes

Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground caused initial delays, then came thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch ended, leaving managers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.

Competition between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in the past few months.

New Launch Window

To ease traffic in the skies during the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs from Monday.

Following the cancellation of the mission, Blue Origin said on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the FAA, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as midweek within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.

Mission Objectives

When it eventually launches, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will transport 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 crucial trial of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the company if successful.

Previous Flight

The rocket's first launch in January was marked as a achievement, as its cargo reached space and successfully performed experiments.

But its first-stage booster, which was designed as recoverable, did not stick its touchdown on a platform in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during descent.

Recovery Efforts

For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to land the booster stage.

Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has managed that feat.

Space Race

Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are engaged in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency opened up bids for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was lagging behind.

Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government push NASA to accelerate its progress to launch astronauts to the lunar surface in competition against China.

Increased competition between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”

“More launches means greater innovation in orbit,” an ex-agency official said. “It isn't a negative to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”