The aerospace company, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the eagerly awaited launch of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to unfavorable weather conditions at the Florida launch site.
Mission Postponement Causes
Rainfall and a ground system issue caused initial delays, then came thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch ended, leaving managers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.
Competition between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been intensifying in recent months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To ease airspace congestion during the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting private space launches starting the beginning of the week.
After scrubbing the mission, Blue Origin said on Sunday evening that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was targeting a new try as soon as midweek within a time slot of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.
Mission Objectives
Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will transport NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to Mars, to examine the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of sending people there.
Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a key test of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would represent a major advancement for the firm if successful.
Previous Flight
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was marked as a success, as its payload achieved orbit and successfully performed tests.
But its main rocket section, which was designed as recoverable, failed to make its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.
Landing Attempts
For this new mission the launch provider will try once more to recover the booster stage.
Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment.
Space Race
The competing companies of tycoons Musk and Bezos are engaged in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as NASA began accepting proposals for its planned moon mission, noting that SpaceX was lagging behind.
Donald Trump’s second term has involved the administration pile pressure on NASA to speed up its timeline to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface in competition against China.
Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“More launches means more ideas in orbit,” an ex-agency official stated. “It isn't a bad thing to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”
