Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the eagerly awaited launch of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday because of adverse meteorological factors at Cape Canaveral.
Launch Delay Reasons
Precipitation and a ground system issue led to early setbacks, followed by thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch ended, forcing mission controllers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been heating up in recent months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To relieve airspace congestion amid the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs from the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the mission, Blue Origin announced on Sunday evening that, working alongside the FAA, it was targeting a new try as early as Wednesday within a time slot of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time.
Mission Objectives
When it eventually launches, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will carry NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, in an effort to study the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of sending people there.
Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a key test of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would prove a major advancement for the firm if successful.
Earlier Mission
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in the start of the year was considered a success, as its payload reached space and successfully performed tests.
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 the return phase.
Landing Attempts
For this new mission the launch provider will try once more to land the booster stage.
Until now, only SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment.
Space Race
Rival firms of tycoons Bezos and Musk are locked in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency opened up proposals for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was lagging behind.
The current administration has seen the government push the agency to speed up its progress to launch astronauts to the Moon amid a race with China.
More rivalry between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to liftoff.”
“Additional missions means more ideas in space,” an ex-agency official stated. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”
