The aerospace company, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to delay the highly anticipated liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend because of adverse weather conditions at Cape Canaveral.
Mission Postponement Causes
Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground caused initial delays, then came cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window closed, leaving mission controllers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Competition between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in recent months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To ease traffic in the skies amid the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs starting Monday.
Following the cancellation of the mission, the company said on Sunday evening that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as Wednesday within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.
Launch Goals
When it eventually launches, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will transport NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, in an effort to study the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of sending people there.
The mission will also serve as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the firm if accomplished.
Earlier Mission
The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was marked as a success, as its payload achieved orbit and successfully performed tests.
But its first-stage booster, which was designed as recoverable, did not stick its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during the return phase.
Recovery Efforts
In its second effort the launch provider will try once more to land the booster stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.
Industry Competition
Rival firms of billionaires Musk and Bezos are engaged in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as NASA began accepting proposals for its lunar exploration program, complaining that one company was falling behind schedule.
The current administration has seen the government push the agency to speed up its progress to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface in competition against the Asian nation.
Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“More launches means greater innovation in space,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It can’t be a bad thing to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”
