Blue Origin, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the highly anticipated liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend due to unfavorable weather conditions at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Reasons
Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground caused early setbacks, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, leaving mission controllers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been heating up in the past few months.
New Launch Window
To ease airspace congestion during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs starting Monday.
After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin said late Sunday that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was targeting a new try as soon as midweek within a time slot of afternoon hours EST.
Mission Objectives
Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will transport NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, in an effort to examine the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of sending people there.
The mission will also act as a crucial trial of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would represent 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 cargo achieved orbit and successfully performed tests.
But its first-stage booster, which was designed as reusable, failed to make its landing on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during descent.
Landing Attempts
In its second effort the launch provider will make another attempt to recover the booster stage.
Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that feat.
Industry Competition
Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are locked in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency opened up proposals for its lunar exploration program, complaining that SpaceX was lagging behind.
The current administration has seen the administration pile pressure on the agency to speed up its timeline to send a crewed mission to the Moon amid a race with China.
More rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to liftoff.”
“Additional missions means greater innovation in space,” an ex-agency official stated. “It isn't a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”
