Blue Origin, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the eagerly awaited launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday because of unfavorable meteorological factors at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Reasons
Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground caused initial delays, then came thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch closed, forcing managers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.
Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been intensifying in the past few months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To ease traffic in the skies amid the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs from Monday.
Following the cancellation of the mission, the company said late Sunday that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was aiming for a new try as soon as Wednesday within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time.
Mission Objectives
When it eventually launches, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will transport the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to the Red Planet, to study the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of human exploration.
The mission will also act as a key test of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would prove a major advancement for the company if accomplished.
Previous Flight
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was marked as a success, as its payload achieved orbit and successfully performed tests.
But its main rocket section, which was meant to be reusable, failed to make its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during the return phase.
Landing Attempts
For this new mission Blue Origin will try once more to land the first stage.
Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment.
Space Race
Rival firms of tycoons Bezos and Musk are locked in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as NASA opened up bids for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was lagging behind.
The current administration has seen the administration push NASA to accelerate its timeline to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface in competition against the Asian nation.
More rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “expand our options with regard to launch.”
“More launches means greater innovation in space,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”
