The aerospace company, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend because of adverse weather factors at the Florida launch site.
Mission Postponement Causes
Rainfall and a ground system issue led to initial delays, then came cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch closed, leaving mission controllers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.
Rivalry between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been intensifying in the past few months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To relieve airspace congestion amid the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs starting the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the launch, Blue Origin said late Sunday that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was targeting a new try as soon as Wednesday within a time slot of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.
Launch Goals
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 examine the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of sending people there.
The mission will also serve as a key test of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the firm if successful.
Previous Flight
The rocket's first launch in January was marked as a achievement, as its cargo reached space and successfully performed experiments.
But its main rocket section, which was designed as recoverable, did not stick its touchdown on a platform in the ocean, and instead was lost during the return phase.
Landing Attempts
For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to land the booster stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.
Space Race
Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are locked in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as NASA began accepting bids for its planned moon mission, complaining that one company was lagging behind.
Donald Trump’s second term has involved the administration push the agency to accelerate its timeline to send a crewed mission to the Moon amid a race with China.
More rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.”
“Additional missions means more ideas in space,” an ex-agency official said. “It isn't a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”
