Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the eagerly awaited launch of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend because of unfavorable weather factors at the Florida launch site.
Mission Postponement Reasons
Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground led to early setbacks, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window closed, leaving managers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Rivalry between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been intensifying in the past few months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To relieve traffic in the skies amid the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs starting the beginning of the week.
After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin announced on Sunday evening that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for another attempt as early as midweek within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.
Launch Goals
When it eventually launches, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will transport the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, in an effort to study the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of sending people there.
The mission will also serve as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would represent a major advancement for the firm if successful.
Earlier Mission
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 meant to be recoverable, failed to make its touchdown on a platform in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission the launch provider will make another attempt to recover the first stage.
Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that feat.
Space Race
The competing companies of billionaires Musk and Bezos are engaged in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency began accepting bids for its lunar exploration program, complaining that SpaceX was lagging behind.
The current administration has involved the administration push NASA to speed up its progress to launch astronauts to the lunar surface in competition against China.
More rivalry between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to liftoff.”
“Additional missions means more ideas in space,” an ex-agency official said. “It isn't a bad thing to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”
