The aerospace company, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the highly anticipated liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend because of adverse weather factors at Cape Canaveral.
Launch Delay Reasons
Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground caused initial delays, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window closed, leaving managers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Competition between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in recent months.
New Launch Window
To ease airspace congestion during the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is limiting private space launches starting Monday.
Following the cancellation of the launch, the company said on Sunday evening that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as Wednesday within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.
Mission Objectives
Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will transport the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to the Red Planet, in an effort to examine the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of sending people there.
Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a key test of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the firm if accomplished.
Earlier Mission
The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was considered a success, as its payload achieved orbit and completed experiments.
But its main rocket section, which was designed as reusable, failed to make its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during descent.
Landing Attempts
For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to land the booster stage.
Until now, only SpaceX has managed that feat.
Industry Competition
Rival firms of billionaires 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, noting that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.
The current administration has involved the administration push the agency to speed up its timeline to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface in competition against the Asian nation.
More rivalry between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.”
“Additional missions means greater innovation in space,” an ex-agency official said. “It isn't a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”
