The aerospace company, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the highly anticipated liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend due to adverse meteorological conditions at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Causes
Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground led to initial delays, then came cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window ended, leaving mission controllers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Competition between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been intensifying in the past few months.
New Launch Window
To relieve airspace congestion during the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs starting the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the launch, the company announced on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the FAA, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as Wednesday within a time slot of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.
Launch Goals
When it eventually launches, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will transport NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to Mars, in an effort 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 represent a major advancement for the firm if accomplished.
Earlier Mission
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was marked as a success, as its cargo reached space and completed tests.
But its main rocket section, which was meant to be recoverable, did not stick its landing on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during descent.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission the launch provider will try once more to land the booster stage.
Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment.
Industry Competition
The competing companies of tycoons Bezos and Musk are locked in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as NASA opened up bids for its lunar exploration program, complaining that one company was lagging behind.
The current administration has seen the administration pile pressure on NASA to speed up its progress to launch astronauts to the lunar surface amid a race with China.
Increased competition between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“More launches means more ideas in space,” an ex-agency official stated. “It isn't a negative to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”
