The aerospace company, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the eagerly awaited launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to unfavorable weather conditions at the Florida launch site.
Mission Postponement Reasons
Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground caused early setbacks, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, leaving mission controllers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Competition between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in recent months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To relieve traffic in the skies during the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs starting the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the launch, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was aiming for a new try as early as midweek within a time slot of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.
Mission Objectives
When it eventually launches, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will transport NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, in an effort to examine the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of sending people there.
The mission will also act as a crucial trial of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the company if accomplished.
Previous Flight
The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was considered a achievement, as its payload reached space and completed tests.
But its main rocket section, which was meant to be recoverable, failed to make its landing on a platform in the ocean, and instead was lost during descent.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to land the first stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has achieved that feat.
Space Race
The competing companies of billionaires Bezos and Musk are engaged in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as NASA opened up bids for its planned moon mission, complaining that one company was lagging behind.
The current administration has seen the government push NASA to accelerate its timeline to send a crewed mission to the Moon amid a race with China.
More rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.”
“Additional missions means more ideas in space,” an ex-agency official stated. “It can’t be a negative to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”
