The aerospace company, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday due to unfavorable meteorological conditions at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Causes
Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground led to initial delays, followed by thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, leaving managers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.
Competition between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been heating up in the past few months.
New Launch Window
To relieve airspace congestion amid the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting private space launches starting Monday.
After scrubbing the launch, the company announced late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for another attempt as early as Wednesday within a window of afternoon hours EST.
Mission Objectives
Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will carry the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to the Red Planet, to examine the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of human exploration.
Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a crucial trial of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would represent a major advancement for the company if successful.
Previous Flight
The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was considered a achievement, as its payload achieved orbit and successfully performed experiments.
But its first-stage booster, which was designed as recoverable, did not stick its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission the launch provider will make another attempt to recover the first stage.
Until now, only SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.
Space Race
The competing companies of tycoons Musk and Bezos are locked in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as the space agency began accepting bids for its planned moon mission, noting that SpaceX was lagging behind.
Donald Trump’s second term has seen the administration pile pressure on the agency to speed up its progress to launch astronauts to the lunar surface in competition against the Asian nation.
Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “expand our options with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means greater innovation in space,” an ex-agency official stated. “It isn't a negative to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”
