Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the eagerly awaited launch of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday due to unfavorable meteorological conditions at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Causes
Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground led to initial delays, followed by thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch ended, leaving mission controllers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.
Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been intensifying in the past few months.
New Launch Window
To relieve airspace congestion during the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting private space launches starting the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the launch, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, in coordination with the FAA, it was targeting a new try as early as midweek within a time slot of afternoon hours EST.
Mission Objectives
Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will transport the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to Mars, in an effort to study the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of sending people there.
The mission will also act as a crucial trial of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would prove a major advancement for the firm if successful.
Previous Flight
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 main rocket section, which was meant to be reusable, failed to make its landing on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during the return phase.
Landing Attempts
In its second effort Blue Origin will make another attempt to land the booster stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has managed that feat.
Space Race
Rival firms of billionaires Bezos and Musk are engaged in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as the space agency opened up proposals for its planned moon mission, complaining that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.
Donald Trump’s second term has seen the administration pile pressure on the agency to accelerate its progress to launch astronauts to the Moon in competition against the Asian nation.
More rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means greater innovation in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It isn't a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”
