Blue Origin, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to unfavorable meteorological conditions at Cape Canaveral.
Launch Delay Causes
Rainfall 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 rocket’s planned second mission.
Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been heating up in recent months.
New Launch Window
To relieve traffic in the skies amid the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs from the beginning of the week.
After scrubbing the mission, the company announced on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the FAA, it was targeting a new try as soon as midweek within a window of afternoon hours EST.
Launch Goals
When it eventually launches, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will carry NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, to study the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of sending people there.
Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a crucial trial of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the company if successful.
Earlier Mission
The rocket's first launch in January was marked as a achievement, as its cargo reached space and completed experiments.
But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be reusable, failed to make its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the first stage.
Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that feat.
Industry Competition
The competing companies of billionaires Bezos and Musk are engaged in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as NASA began accepting proposals for its planned moon mission, complaining that one company was lagging behind.
Donald Trump’s second term has seen the administration push NASA to speed up its timeline to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface amid a race with the Asian nation.
Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.”
“Additional missions means more ideas in orbit,” an ex-agency official said. “It isn't a negative to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”
