Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to unfavorable weather factors at the Florida launch site.
Mission Postponement Causes
Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground caused initial delays, followed by thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window closed, leaving mission controllers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Competition between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in recent months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To relieve traffic in the skies amid the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs from Monday.
After scrubbing the mission, the company said on Sunday evening that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for another attempt as early as Wednesday within a time slot of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.
Mission Objectives
Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will carry NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, to study the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of human exploration.
The mission will also serve as a key test of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the firm if successful.
Earlier Mission
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in the start of the year was considered a success, as its cargo reached space and successfully performed experiments.
But its main rocket section, which was meant to be recoverable, failed to make its landing on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during the return phase.
Recovery Efforts
In its second effort Blue Origin will make another attempt to land the booster stage.
Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has managed that feat.
Space Race
Rival firms of tycoons Bezos and Musk are engaged in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as NASA opened up proposals for its planned moon mission, noting that one company was lagging behind.
Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government pile pressure on the agency to speed up its progress to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface amid a race with the Asian nation.
More rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“More launches means greater innovation in space,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It isn't a bad thing to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”
