Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to delay the highly anticipated liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to adverse meteorological factors at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Causes
Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground led to initial delays, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, leaving managers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in recent months.
New Launch Window
To relieve airspace congestion amid the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is restricting private space launches from Monday.
Following the cancellation of the launch, Blue Origin said on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the FAA, it was aiming for another attempt as early as midweek within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time.
Mission Objectives
Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will transport the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of human exploration.
The mission will also act as a key test of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the company if successful.
Previous Flight
The rocket's first launch in January was considered a success, as its cargo achieved orbit and completed experiments.
But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be recoverable, failed to make its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during descent.
Recovery Efforts
In its second effort the launch provider will try once more to recover the first stage.
Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment.
Space Race
The competing companies of tycoons Bezos and Musk are locked in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency began accepting proposals for its lunar exploration program, complaining that one company was falling behind schedule.
Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government push NASA to accelerate its progress to launch astronauts to the Moon amid a race with China.
Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means greater innovation in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”
