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 Cape Canaveral.
Launch Delay Reasons
Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground caused initial delays, followed by thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch closed, forcing managers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Competition between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been heating up in recent months.
New Launch Window
To relieve airspace congestion during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is restricting private space launches starting the beginning of the week.
After scrubbing the mission, the company said on Sunday evening that, working alongside the FAA, it was targeting a new try as soon as midweek within a time slot of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.
Launch Goals
Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will carry NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to Mars, in an effort to examine the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of human exploration.
Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a crucial trial of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the firm if successful.
Earlier Mission
The rocket's first launch in January was marked as a achievement, as its cargo reached space and successfully performed tests.
But its main rocket section, which was designed as recoverable, did not stick its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.
Landing Attempts
In its second effort the launch provider will try once more to recover the booster stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.
Space Race
Rival firms of billionaires Musk and Bezos are engaged in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency began accepting bids for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was falling behind schedule.
The current administration has involved the government push the agency to speed up its progress to send a crewed mission to the Moon in competition against the Asian nation.
Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to liftoff.”
“More launches means greater innovation in space,” an ex-agency official stated. “It can’t be a bad thing to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”
