The aerospace company, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the eagerly awaited liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday because of unfavorable weather factors at Cape Canaveral.
Mission Postponement Reasons
Rainfall and a ground system issue caused initial delays, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch closed, forcing mission controllers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.
Rivalry between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been heating up in the past few months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To ease airspace congestion during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs from Monday.
After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin said on Sunday evening that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as Wednesday within a window of afternoon hours EST.
Launch Goals
Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will transport the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, to study the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of sending people there.
Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would prove a major advancement for the firm if accomplished.
Previous Flight
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in the start of the year was considered a achievement, as its payload reached space and successfully performed experiments.
But its main rocket section, which was meant to be reusable, did not stick its landing on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during the return phase.
Landing Attempts
In its second effort Blue Origin will try once more to recover the booster stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has managed that feat.
Industry Competition
Rival firms of billionaires Bezos and Musk are locked in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as NASA began accepting bids for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was lagging behind.
The current administration has involved the administration pile pressure on the agency to speed up its timeline to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface in competition against the Asian nation.
Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.”
“More launches means more ideas in space,” an ex-agency official said. “It can’t be a bad thing to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”
