Blue Origin, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the highly anticipated liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday because of unfavorable weather factors at Cape Canaveral.
Launch Delay Causes
Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground caused early setbacks, followed by thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, leaving managers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Rivalry between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in the past few months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To relieve traffic in the skies during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is limiting private space launches from Monday.
Following the cancellation of the mission, the company said late Sunday that, in coordination with the FAA, it was targeting a new try as early as midweek within a time slot of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.
Mission Objectives
When it eventually launches, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will transport NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, in an effort to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of human exploration.
The mission will also serve as a key test of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the firm if successful.
Earlier Mission
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was considered a achievement, as its cargo reached space and successfully performed experiments.
But its main rocket section, which was meant to be reusable, did not stick its landing on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.
Landing Attempts
In its second effort Blue Origin will try once more to recover the booster stage.
Until now, only SpaceX has managed that feat.
Space Race
Rival firms of billionaires Musk and Bezos are engaged in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency opened up proposals for its lunar exploration program, complaining that one company was falling behind schedule.
The current administration has seen the administration pile pressure on NASA to speed up its timeline to launch astronauts to the lunar surface amid a race with the Asian nation.
More rivalry between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.”
“More launches means more ideas in orbit,” an ex-agency official stated. “It isn't a bad thing to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”
