Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to unfavorable meteorological conditions at the Florida launch site.
Mission Postponement Reasons
Rainfall and a ground system issue led to early setbacks, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch ended, forcing managers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.
Competition between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been heating up in the past few months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To relieve airspace congestion during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is restricting private space launches starting the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the launch, Blue Origin said on Sunday evening that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as Wednesday within a time slot of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.
Mission Objectives
Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will transport NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to the Red Planet, in an effort to study the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of human exploration.
The mission will also act as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would prove 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 success, as its cargo achieved orbit and completed tests.
But its main rocket section, which was designed as recoverable, did not stick its touchdown on a platform in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during descent.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the booster stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has managed that feat.
Space Race
Rival firms of billionaires Bezos and Musk are locked in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency began accepting proposals for its planned moon mission, complaining that SpaceX was lagging behind.
The current administration has seen the administration push the agency to speed up its timeline to send a crewed mission to the Moon amid a race with China.
More rivalry between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to launch.”
“More launches means greater innovation in space,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It isn't a negative to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”
