Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to adverse meteorological conditions at Cape Canaveral.
Launch Delay Reasons
Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground caused early setbacks, followed by thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window closed, leaving managers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Competition between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in recent months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To relieve traffic in the skies during the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs from Monday.
After scrubbing the mission, the company said late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for a new try as soon as Wednesday within a time slot of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.
Mission Objectives
When it eventually launches, the 98-meter 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 eventual hope of human exploration.
The mission will also act as a crucial trial of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the firm if successful.
Earlier Mission
The rocket's first launch in January was considered a achievement, as its payload reached space and completed tests.
But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be recoverable, did not stick its landing on a platform in the ocean, and instead was lost during the return phase.
Landing Attempts
For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the booster stage.
Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment.
Industry Competition
Rival firms of tycoons Bezos and Musk are engaged in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as NASA opened up proposals for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was lagging behind.
The current administration has seen the government pile pressure on the agency to accelerate its progress to launch astronauts to the Moon amid a race with the Asian nation.
More rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means greater innovation in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It can’t be a negative to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”
