The aerospace company, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the eagerly awaited launch of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend because of unfavorable weather factors at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Causes
Precipitation and a ground system issue led to initial delays, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch closed, leaving managers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Competition between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been intensifying in the past few months.
New Launch Window
To relieve airspace congestion 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 regulatory body, it was aiming for a new try as early as Wednesday within a window of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.
Launch Goals
Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will transport NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to Mars, in an effort to study the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of human exploration.
The mission will also serve as a crucial trial of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would represent a major advancement for the company if accomplished.
Earlier Mission
The rocket's first launch in January was considered a achievement, as its payload reached space and successfully performed experiments.
But its main rocket section, which was designed as recoverable, did not stick its landing on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during descent.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission the launch provider will try once more to recover the first stage.
Until now, only SpaceX has managed that feat.
Industry Competition
Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are engaged in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency began accepting bids for its lunar exploration program, complaining that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.
The current administration has seen the administration pile pressure on NASA to accelerate its progress to send a crewed mission to the Moon amid a race with China.
Increased competition between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means more ideas in orbit,” an ex-agency official stated. “It can’t be a negative to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”
