Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the highly anticipated launch of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday due to unfavorable meteorological conditions at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Reasons
Precipitation and a ground system issue caused early setbacks, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window closed, forcing mission controllers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.
Competition between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been heating up in the past few months.
New Launch Window
To ease traffic in the skies during the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting private space launches starting the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the launch, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for a new try as soon 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 transport the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to the Red Planet, in an effort to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of human exploration.
Blue Origin’s launch 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.
Earlier Mission
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was considered a success, as its cargo achieved orbit and successfully performed experiments.
But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be recoverable, failed to make its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and instead was lost during the return phase.
Recovery Efforts
In its second effort Blue Origin will try once more to recover the booster stage.
Until now, only SpaceX has managed that feat.
Space Race
Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are engaged in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency began accepting bids for its planned moon mission, noting that one company was falling behind schedule.
Donald Trump’s second term has involved the government pile pressure on NASA to accelerate its progress to launch astronauts to the Moon amid a race with China.
Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to liftoff.”
“Additional missions means more ideas in space,” an ex-agency official said. “It can’t be a bad thing to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”
