Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the eagerly awaited launch of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday because of adverse meteorological factors at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Reasons
Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground caused initial delays, then came cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window closed, forcing managers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.
Competition between Blue Origin 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 Federal Aviation Administration is limiting private space launches starting Monday.
Following the cancellation of the mission, the company announced on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the FAA, it was targeting a new try as soon as midweek within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time.
Launch Goals
Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will carry NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of human exploration.
Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the company if accomplished.
Earlier Mission
The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was marked as a achievement, as its payload reached space and successfully performed experiments.
But its first-stage booster, which was designed as reusable, did not stick 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 first stage.
Until now, only SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.
Industry Competition
Rival firms of billionaires Bezos and Musk are locked in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as NASA began accepting bids for its planned moon mission, complaining that one company was falling behind schedule.
The current administration has seen the administration push the agency to speed up its timeline to launch astronauts to the Moon amid a race with the Asian nation.
More rivalry 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 isn't a negative to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”
