Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the highly anticipated launch of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend because of adverse weather factors at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Reasons
Precipitation and a ground system issue led to initial delays, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, forcing managers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Rivalry between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been heating up in the past few months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To relieve airspace congestion amid the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting private space launches starting the beginning of the week.
After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin said late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for a new try as early as Wednesday within a window of afternoon hours EST.
Launch Goals
When it eventually launches, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will transport the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, in an effort to study the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of sending people there.
The mission will also serve as a key test of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would represent a major advancement for the company if successful.
Previous Flight
The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was marked as a achievement, as its cargo achieved orbit and successfully performed tests.
But its main rocket section, which was meant to be reusable, did not stick its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during descent.
Landing Attempts
For this new mission the launch provider will try once more to recover the first stage.
Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment.
Industry Competition
Rival firms of billionaires Bezos and Musk are engaged in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as NASA began accepting proposals for its planned moon mission, complaining that SpaceX was lagging behind.
The current administration has involved the administration pile pressure on NASA to accelerate its progress to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface amid a race with China.
Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “expand our options with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means greater innovation in space,” an ex-agency official said. “It can’t be a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”
