Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited launch of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to unfavorable weather factors at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Causes
Rainfall and a ground system issue caused initial delays, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window closed, leaving managers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.
Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in the past few months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To ease traffic in the skies amid the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is restricting private space launches from Monday.
Following the cancellation of the launch, the company said on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as midweek within a time slot of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.
Mission Objectives
Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will transport the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to Mars, in an effort to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of sending people there.
Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a key test of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would represent a major advancement for the firm if accomplished.
Previous Flight
The rocket's first launch in January was marked as a success, as its cargo reached space and completed tests.
But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be recoverable, did not stick its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during descent.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission the launch provider will try once more to land the booster stage.
Until now, only SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment.
Space Race
The competing companies of tycoons Musk and Bezos are engaged in a commercial space race 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.
The current administration has seen the administration push the agency to speed up its progress to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface amid a race with China.
Increased competition between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means more ideas in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It isn't a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”
