The aerospace company, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the highly anticipated liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend because of unfavorable meteorological conditions at Cape Canaveral.
Launch Delay Causes
Rainfall and a ground system issue caused early setbacks, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window closed, leaving managers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Competition between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in recent months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To relieve airspace congestion during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is limiting private space launches from the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the launch, Blue Origin said on Sunday evening that, working alongside the FAA, it was targeting another attempt as soon as Wednesday within a time slot of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.
Launch Goals
When it eventually launches, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will transport the US space agency'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 key test of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would prove a major advancement for the firm if accomplished.
Previous Flight
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was marked as a success, as its payload achieved orbit and successfully performed experiments.
But its main rocket section, which was designed as recoverable, failed to make its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during descent.
Landing Attempts
In its second effort the launch provider will try once more to land the booster stage.
Until now, only SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.
Space Race
Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are engaged in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as the space agency opened up proposals for its planned moon mission, noting that one company was lagging behind.
The current administration has seen the government pile pressure on the agency to speed up its progress to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface amid a race with the Asian nation.
Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to liftoff.”
“More launches means greater innovation in orbit,” an ex-agency official stated. “It can’t be a negative to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”
