Blue Origin, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the eagerly awaited launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to adverse weather conditions at Cape Canaveral.
Mission Postponement Reasons
Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground led to early setbacks, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window closed, forcing managers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Competition between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in the past few months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To ease airspace congestion during the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is limiting private space launches from the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the launch, the company announced on Sunday evening that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as midweek within a time slot 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 Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, 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 key test of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the company if accomplished.
Previous Flight
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was marked as a achievement, as its cargo reached space and successfully performed experiments.
But its main rocket section, which was designed as recoverable, did not stick its landing on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during descent.
Recovery Efforts
In its second effort Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the booster stage.
Thus far, 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 NASA opened up bids for its planned moon mission, noting that SpaceX was lagging behind.
The current administration has seen the government push NASA to accelerate its timeline to launch astronauts to the Moon amid a race with China.
More rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.”
“More launches means more ideas in orbit,” an ex-agency official said. “It can’t be a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”
