Blue Origin, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend because of adverse meteorological factors at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Causes
Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground led to early setbacks, then came cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window ended, forcing mission controllers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Competition between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been intensifying in recent months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To relieve airspace congestion during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is restricting private space launches starting Monday.
After scrubbing the launch, the company said late Sunday that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as midweek within a time slot of afternoon hours EST.
Launch Goals
Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will carry the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to Mars, to examine the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of human exploration.
The mission will also serve as a crucial trial of its ability to perform 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 payload achieved orbit and completed tests.
But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be recoverable, failed to make its touchdown on a platform in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.
Landing Attempts
In its second effort the launch provider will make another attempt to recover the first stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has achieved that feat.
Space Race
The competing companies of tycoons Bezos and Musk are engaged in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as NASA opened up proposals for its planned moon mission, noting that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.
Donald Trump’s second term has seen the administration pile pressure on the agency to speed up its progress to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface amid a race with the Asian nation.
Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.”
“More launches means greater innovation in orbit,” an ex-agency official said. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”
