Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the highly anticipated launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to unfavorable weather conditions at Cape Canaveral.
Mission Postponement Causes
Rainfall and a ground system issue led to early setbacks, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch closed, forcing mission controllers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.
Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in recent months.
New Launch Window
To ease traffic in the skies amid the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs from 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 Eastern Standard time.
Mission Objectives
When it eventually launches, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will transport NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, to examine the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of sending people there.
The mission will also serve as a crucial trial of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the company if successful.
Previous Flight
The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was considered a achievement, as its cargo reached space and completed tests.
But its main rocket section, which was meant to be reusable, did not stick its landing on a platform in the ocean, and instead was lost during the return phase.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to land the first stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has achieved that feat.
Industry Competition
The competing companies of tycoons Musk and Bezos are engaged in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as NASA began accepting proposals for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was falling behind schedule.
Donald Trump’s second term has involved the government push the agency to speed up its timeline to send a crewed mission to the Moon in competition against the Asian nation.
More rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to liftoff.”
“Additional missions means more ideas in space,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It isn't a negative to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”
