The aerospace company, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the highly anticipated liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend because of adverse meteorological factors at Cape Canaveral.
Mission Postponement Reasons
Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground caused early setbacks, then came thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch closed, forcing managers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.
Competition between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been heating up in recent months.
New Launch Window
To ease airspace congestion during the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs starting Monday.
After scrubbing the launch, the company said late Sunday that, in coordination with the FAA, it was aiming for a new try as early as Wednesday within a window of afternoon hours EST.
Mission Objectives
Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will carry NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to the Red Planet, in an effort to study the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of human exploration.
The mission will also serve as a key test 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 the start of the year was considered a success, as its payload achieved orbit and completed experiments.
But its main rocket section, which was meant to be reusable, did not stick its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during descent.
Landing Attempts
In its second effort Blue Origin will make another attempt to land the first stage.
Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that feat.
Space Race
Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are engaged in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as the space agency began accepting proposals for its planned moon mission, complaining that SpaceX was lagging behind.
Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government pile pressure on the agency to speed up its progress to launch astronauts to the Moon in competition against the Asian nation.
Increased competition between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means greater innovation in orbit,” an ex-agency official said. “It isn't a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”
