Blue Origin, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday because of adverse 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 narrow time frame for launch ended, leaving managers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been heating up in the past few months.
New Launch Window
To ease airspace congestion amid the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting private space launches starting Monday.
After scrubbing the launch, the company announced on Sunday evening that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was aiming for another attempt as early as Wednesday within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time.
Mission Objectives
When it eventually launches, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will carry the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to the Red Planet, to study the Martian atmospheric past 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 prove a major advancement for the company if successful.
Earlier Mission
The rocket's first launch in January was considered a achievement, as its payload reached space and successfully performed experiments.
But its main rocket section, which was designed as recoverable, did not stick its landing on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during descent.
Recovery Efforts
In its second effort the launch provider will make another attempt to recover the booster stage.
Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment.
Space Race
The competing companies of tycoons Musk and Bezos are engaged in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as NASA began accepting proposals for its planned moon mission, noting that SpaceX was lagging behind.
The current administration has seen the government pile pressure on the agency to accelerate its timeline to send a crewed mission to the Moon amid a race with the Asian nation.
More rivalry between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“More launches means greater innovation in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It isn't a negative to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”
