Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the highly anticipated liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to unfavorable meteorological factors at Cape Canaveral.
Mission Postponement Reasons
Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground led to early setbacks, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window closed, leaving managers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Rivalry between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been intensifying in recent months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To relieve traffic in the skies during the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs starting Monday.
Following the cancellation of the launch, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for a new try as early as midweek within a time slot of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.
Launch Goals
Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will carry NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of sending people there.
Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would prove a major advancement for the company if accomplished.
Previous Flight
The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was considered a success, as its cargo achieved orbit and successfully performed 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 ended up destroyed during the return phase.
Recovery Efforts
In its second effort the launch provider will make another attempt to recover the first stage.
Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that feat.
Space Race
The competing companies of tycoons Musk and Bezos are locked in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as NASA opened up proposals for its lunar exploration program, complaining that one company was lagging behind.
Donald Trump’s second term has seen the administration push the agency to accelerate its timeline to launch astronauts to the lunar surface in competition against China.
More rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means greater innovation in space,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It can’t be a bad thing to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”
