The aerospace company, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the highly anticipated liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday due to adverse meteorological factors at Cape Canaveral.
Mission Postponement Causes
Rainfall and a ground system issue caused initial delays, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch closed, leaving managers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Competition between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been heating up in recent months.
New Launch Window
To relieve traffic in the skies during the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting private space launches starting the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the launch, Blue Origin said late Sunday that, in coordination with the FAA, it was targeting a new try as early as Wednesday within a time slot of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.
Mission Objectives
Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will carry the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, in an effort to study the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of sending people there.
Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a crucial trial of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the firm if successful.
Previous Flight
The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was considered a success, as its cargo achieved orbit and successfully performed tests.
But its main rocket section, which was designed as recoverable, did not stick its touchdown on a platform in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.
Landing Attempts
For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the first stage.
Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that feat.
Industry Competition
The competing companies of tycoons Bezos and Musk are engaged in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as the space agency opened up bids for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was falling behind schedule.
The current administration has seen the administration push NASA to accelerate its timeline to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface amid a race with the Asian nation.
Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“More launches means greater innovation in orbit,” an ex-agency official said. “It isn't a negative to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”
