Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to delay the highly anticipated liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to unfavorable weather conditions at Cape Canaveral.
Launch Delay Causes
Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground led to initial delays, then came cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch closed, leaving mission controllers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in the past few months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To ease traffic in the skies during the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is limiting private space launches starting the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the mission, the company said late Sunday that, in coordination with the FAA, it was aiming for another attempt as early as midweek within a time slot of afternoon hours EST.
Mission Objectives
Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will carry the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, in an effort to study the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of human exploration.
The mission will also serve as a key test of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would prove a major advancement for the firm if successful.
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 tests.
But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be reusable, did not stick its touchdown on a platform in the ocean, and instead was lost during descent.
Landing Attempts
In its second effort the launch provider will try once more to land the first stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.
Industry Competition
The competing companies of tycoons Musk and Bezos are locked in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as the space agency opened up bids for its lunar exploration program, complaining that SpaceX was lagging behind.
Donald Trump’s second term has involved the administration pile pressure on NASA to speed up its progress to launch astronauts to the Moon in competition against China.
Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means more ideas in space,” an ex-agency official said. “It isn't a bad thing to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”
