The aerospace company, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the highly anticipated liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday because of unfavorable weather factors at Cape Canaveral.
Launch Delay Causes
Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground led to initial delays, then came cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window closed, forcing mission controllers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.
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 government funding gap, the aviation regulator is limiting private space launches from the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the mission, Blue Origin announced on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was targeting a new try as soon as midweek within a time slot of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time.
Mission Objectives
Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will carry NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, to examine the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of human exploration.
Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a key test of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the firm if successful.
Earlier Mission
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was marked as a success, as its payload achieved orbit and successfully performed tests.
But its first-stage booster, which was designed as reusable, did not stick its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and instead was lost during descent.
Landing Attempts
In its second effort the launch provider will make another attempt to recover the first stage.
Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has managed that feat.
Space Race
The competing companies of billionaires Musk and Bezos are engaged in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as the space agency began accepting bids for its lunar exploration program, complaining that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.
Donald Trump’s second term has involved the government push the agency to accelerate its timeline to send a crewed mission to the Moon amid a race with China.
Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“More launches means more ideas in orbit,” an ex-agency official stated. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”
