Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to adverse meteorological conditions at the Florida launch site.
Mission Postponement Causes
Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground caused early setbacks, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window ended, forcing managers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Competition between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been intensifying in the past few months.
New Launch Window
To relieve airspace congestion during the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is limiting private space launches starting Monday.
Following the cancellation of the mission, the company said late Sunday that, in coordination with the FAA, it was aiming for a new try as early as Wednesday within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.
Mission Objectives
Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will carry the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, to study the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of human exploration.
Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a crucial trial of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would prove a major advancement for the firm if accomplished.
Earlier Mission
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was marked as a achievement, as its payload reached space and completed experiments.
But its main rocket section, which was designed as recoverable, failed to make its landing on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during the return phase.
Landing Attempts
For this new mission the launch provider will try once more to recover the first stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has achieved that feat.
Space Race
Rival firms of billionaires Musk and Bezos are engaged in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency opened up proposals 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 speed up 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 orbit,” an ex-agency official said. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”
