The aerospace company, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the highly anticipated liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend because of adverse weather conditions at the Florida launch site.
Mission Postponement Reasons
Precipitation and a ground system issue caused early setbacks, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, leaving mission controllers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Competition between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in recent months.
New Launch Window
To ease airspace congestion amid the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting private space launches starting the beginning of the week.
After scrubbing the mission, Blue Origin said late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for a new try as early 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 carry the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, 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 crucial trial of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the firm if successful.
Earlier Mission
The rocket's first launch in January was considered a achievement, as its cargo achieved orbit and successfully performed experiments.
But its main rocket section, which was designed as reusable, did not stick its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission the launch provider will try once more to land the booster stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has achieved that feat.
Space Race
The competing companies of tycoons Bezos and Musk are locked in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as NASA opened up bids for its planned moon mission, complaining that SpaceX was lagging behind.
Donald Trump’s second term has seen the administration pile pressure on the agency to accelerate its timeline to launch astronauts to the lunar surface in competition against the Asian nation.
More rivalry between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means greater innovation in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It isn't a negative to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”
