The aerospace company, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the highly anticipated launch of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to adverse weather factors at Cape Canaveral.
Mission Postponement Causes
Precipitation and a ground system issue led to initial delays, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window closed, leaving mission controllers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in recent months.
New Launch Window
To relieve airspace congestion amid the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs from the beginning of the week.
After scrubbing the launch, the company said late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was targeting a new try as soon as Wednesday within a window of afternoon hours EST.
Launch Goals
When it eventually launches, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will carry NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to Mars, in an effort to examine the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of human exploration.
The mission will also act as a crucial trial of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the firm if accomplished.
Earlier Mission
New Glenn’s inaugural flight 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 recoverable, did not stick its landing on a platform in the ocean, and instead was lost during descent.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission the launch provider will make another attempt to land the booster stage.
Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment.
Space Race
The competing companies of tycoons Musk and Bezos are engaged in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as NASA opened up proposals for its planned moon mission, complaining that one company was lagging behind.
Donald Trump’s second term has involved the government pile pressure on NASA to accelerate its timeline to launch astronauts to the lunar surface 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 more ideas in space,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”
