The aerospace company, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the highly anticipated launch of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend because of adverse weather factors at Cape Canaveral.
Launch Delay Causes
Precipitation and a ground system issue caused early setbacks, then came cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch ended, leaving managers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.
Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been heating up in recent months.
New Launch Window
To relieve airspace congestion amid the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is restricting private space launches from Monday.
After scrubbing the mission, the company announced on Sunday evening that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as Wednesday within a window of afternoon hours EST.
Mission Objectives
When it eventually launches, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will transport NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to Mars, in an effort to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of sending people there.
The mission will also act as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would prove a major advancement for the firm if successful.
Previous Flight
The rocket's first launch in January was considered a achievement, as its cargo achieved orbit and successfully performed tests.
But its main rocket section, which was designed as recoverable, failed to make its touchdown on a platform in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during descent.
Landing Attempts
In its second effort Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the first stage.
Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.
Space Race
Rival firms of billionaires Musk and Bezos are engaged in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as the space agency began accepting bids for its planned moon mission, noting that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.
The current administration has seen the government pile pressure on NASA to accelerate its timeline to send a crewed mission to the Moon amid a race with the Asian nation.
More rivalry between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means more ideas in space,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”
