The aerospace company, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the eagerly awaited launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to unfavorable weather factors at Cape Canaveral.
Mission Postponement Causes
Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground led to initial delays, then came thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch ended, forcing managers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.
Rivalry between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in the past few months.
New Launch Window
To relieve traffic in the skies amid the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting private space launches starting the beginning of the week.
After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin said on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the FAA, it was aiming for another attempt as early as midweek within a window of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.
Launch Goals
When it eventually launches, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will transport NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, in an effort to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of sending people there.
Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the firm if successful.
Earlier Mission
The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was considered a success, as its payload reached space and successfully performed tests.
But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be recoverable, failed to make its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.
Landing Attempts
For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the first stage.
Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has managed that feat.
Industry Competition
The competing companies of billionaires Bezos and Musk are engaged in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as NASA began accepting proposals for its planned moon mission, noting that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.
The current administration has seen the government pile pressure on NASA to speed up its timeline to launch astronauts to the Moon in competition against China.
More rivalry between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to launch.”
“More launches means more ideas in space,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”
