The aerospace company, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the highly anticipated liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to adverse meteorological conditions at Cape Canaveral.
Mission Postponement Reasons
Precipitation and a ground system issue caused initial delays, then came cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window ended, forcing managers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Competition between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been intensifying in recent months.
New Launch Window
To ease traffic in the skies amid the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is limiting private space launches from the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the mission, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, in coordination with the FAA, it was aiming for a new try as soon as midweek within a window of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.
Mission Objectives
When it eventually launches, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will transport the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of human exploration.
The mission will also act as a key test of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would prove a major advancement for the firm if successful.
Earlier Mission
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in the start of the year was marked as a achievement, as its cargo reached space and successfully performed experiments.
But its first-stage booster, which was designed as recoverable, did not stick its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to land the first stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.
Industry Competition
Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are engaged in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency began accepting bids for its lunar exploration program, complaining that one company was falling behind schedule.
The current administration has involved the administration push NASA to accelerate its timeline to launch astronauts to the lunar surface amid a race with China.
More rivalry between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to launch.”
“More launches means more ideas in space,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”
