Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the eagerly awaited launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday because of unfavorable meteorological factors at Cape Canaveral.
Mission Postponement Causes
Rainfall and a ground system issue caused early setbacks, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, leaving managers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.
Rivalry between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been heating up in the past few months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To relieve traffic in the skies during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs starting Monday.
Following the cancellation of the launch, the company said on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was targeting a new try as soon as Wednesday within a time slot of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.
Launch Goals
When it eventually launches, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will carry the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of sending people there.
The mission will also act as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the firm if successful.
Previous Flight
The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was considered a success, as its cargo reached space and completed experiments.
But its main rocket section, which was designed as reusable, failed to make its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during the return phase.
Landing Attempts
In its second effort Blue Origin will make another attempt to land the first stage.
Until now, only SpaceX has achieved that feat.
Industry Competition
The competing companies of billionaires Musk and Bezos are engaged in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as NASA began accepting proposals for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was lagging behind.
The current administration has involved the administration pile pressure on the agency to speed up its progress to launch astronauts to the lunar surface amid a race with the Asian nation.
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 can’t be a bad thing to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”
