Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the eagerly awaited launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to adverse meteorological factors at the Florida launch site.
Mission Postponement Causes
Rainfall and a ground system issue caused initial delays, then came thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch closed, leaving managers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Competition between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been intensifying in the past few months.
New Launch Window
To relieve traffic in the skies during the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting private space launches from the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the mission, the company announced on Sunday evening that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for another attempt as early as midweek 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, in an effort to examine the Martian atmospheric past 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 major advancement for the company if accomplished.
Previous Flight
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was marked as a achievement, as its payload achieved orbit and successfully performed experiments.
But its main rocket section, which was designed as reusable, failed to make its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during descent.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission the launch provider will make another attempt to land the booster stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has managed that feat.
Space Race
The competing companies of tycoons Bezos and Musk are engaged in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency began accepting proposals for its lunar exploration program, noting that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.
Donald Trump’s second term has seen the administration pile pressure on the agency to speed up its progress to launch astronauts to the Moon amid a race with the Asian nation.
Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“More launches means more ideas in space,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”
