🔗 Share this article

Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend because of unfavorable weather conditions at the Florida launch site.

Launch Delay Causes

Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground led to early setbacks, followed by thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch ended, 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 relieve airspace congestion amid the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs from Monday.

After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin said late Sunday that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as Wednesday within a window of afternoon hours EST.

Launch Goals

Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will carry the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to Mars, to study the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of sending people there.

The mission will also act as a key test of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would prove a major advancement for the company if successful.

Earlier Mission

The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was marked as a success, as its payload achieved orbit and completed experiments.

But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be reusable, failed to make its landing on a platform in the ocean, and instead was lost during descent.

Recovery Efforts

In its second effort Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the booster stage.

Until now, only SpaceX has managed that feat.

Industry Competition

The competing companies of tycoons Bezos and Musk are locked in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as the space agency opened up bids for its planned moon mission, noting that SpaceX was lagging behind.

Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government push NASA to speed up its progress to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface in competition against China.

More rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”

“Additional missions means more ideas in space,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It isn't a negative to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”