Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited launch of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend due to unfavorable weather factors at Cape Canaveral.
Launch Delay Reasons
Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground caused early setbacks, then came cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch ended, forcing managers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.
Rivalry between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been heating up in the past few months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To relieve airspace congestion amid the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting private space launches from the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the mission, the company said late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was targeting another attempt as soon as Wednesday within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.
Mission Objectives
When it eventually launches, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will carry NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, in an effort to study the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of sending people there.
The mission will also act as a key test of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the company if accomplished.
Previous Flight
The rocket's first launch in January was marked as a achievement, as its payload achieved orbit and completed tests.
But its main rocket section, which was designed as reusable, did not stick its landing on a platform in the ocean, and instead was lost during descent.
Landing Attempts
For this new mission Blue Origin will try once more to recover the booster stage.
Until now, only SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.
Industry Competition
Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are locked in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency 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 progress to launch astronauts to the Moon amid a race with China.
More rivalry between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means more ideas in orbit,” an ex-agency official stated. “It isn't a bad thing to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”
