Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the eagerly awaited launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday because of adverse weather conditions at Cape Canaveral.
Launch Delay Reasons
Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground led to initial delays, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch closed, forcing mission controllers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.
Competition between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been heating up in recent months.
New Launch Window
To ease airspace congestion during the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs starting Monday.
After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin said late Sunday that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as Wednesday within a time slot of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time.
Mission Objectives
Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will carry the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, to examine the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of human exploration.
The mission will also serve as a key test of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the firm if successful.
Previous Flight
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in the start of the year was marked as a success, as its cargo achieved orbit and completed experiments.
But its first-stage booster, which was designed as reusable, failed to make its landing on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during descent.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission the launch provider will make another attempt to land the first stage.
Until now, only SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.
Space Race
Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are locked in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as the space agency began accepting bids for its planned moon mission, noting that one company was lagging behind.
Donald Trump’s second term has involved the government push NASA to speed up its progress to launch astronauts to the lunar surface amid a race with the Asian nation.
More rivalry between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to launch.”
“More launches means greater innovation in orbit,” an ex-agency official stated. “It isn't a negative to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”
