The aerospace company, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday because of adverse meteorological factors at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Reasons
Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground led to 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 Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in recent months.
New Launch Window
To relieve airspace congestion amid the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is restricting private space launches starting the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the launch, the company said late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was targeting a new try as soon as midweek within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.
Launch Goals
Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will carry NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, to study the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope 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 successful.
Previous Flight
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was marked as a achievement, as its cargo reached space and successfully performed tests.
But its first-stage booster, which was designed as recoverable, failed to make its landing on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during descent.
Landing Attempts
In its second effort the launch provider will make another attempt to land the first stage.
Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment.
Industry Competition
Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are locked in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as the space agency began accepting proposals for its planned moon mission, noting that SpaceX was lagging behind.
Donald Trump’s second term has seen the administration push 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 “give us more choices with regard to liftoff.”
“More launches means more ideas in space,” an ex-agency official said. “It isn't a bad thing to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”
