The aerospace company, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday because of adverse weather conditions at Cape Canaveral.
Launch Delay Causes
Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground caused initial delays, followed by thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, forcing mission controllers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.
Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been heating up in the past few months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To ease traffic in the skies amid the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is restricting private space launches starting the beginning of the week.
After scrubbing the mission, Blue Origin said on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was aiming for a new try as early as midweek within a window of afternoon hours EST.
Mission Objectives
Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will carry the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, to study the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of sending people there.
The mission will also serve as a key test of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the company if accomplished.
Previous Flight
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in the start of the year was considered a achievement, as its payload achieved orbit and successfully performed experiments.
But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be reusable, did not stick its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission the launch provider will make another attempt to recover the booster stage.
Until now, only SpaceX has managed that feat.
Space Race
Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are locked in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as the space agency opened up proposals for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company 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 lunar surface amid a race with the Asian nation.
More rivalry between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to liftoff.”
“More launches means more ideas in space,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It can’t be a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”
