The aerospace company, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the eagerly awaited launch of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday because of adverse meteorological factors at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Causes
Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground caused initial delays, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window closed, forcing managers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.
Competition between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been heating up in recent months.
New Launch Window
To ease traffic in the skies during the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting private space launches from Monday.
After scrubbing the mission, the company said on Sunday evening that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for a new try as soon as midweek within a time slot of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.
Launch Goals
When it eventually launches, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will carry NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, 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 booster recovery, which would represent a major advancement for the company if successful.
Earlier Mission
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in the start of the year was marked as a achievement, as its cargo reached space and completed experiments.
But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be recoverable, did not stick its touchdown on a platform in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during descent.
Landing Attempts
For this new mission the launch provider will try once more to land the booster stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has managed that feat.
Industry Competition
The competing companies of billionaires Musk and Bezos are engaged in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency began accepting proposals for its lunar exploration program, noting that SpaceX was lagging behind.
The current administration has involved the government pile pressure on NASA to accelerate its progress to launch astronauts to the Moon in competition against China.
Increased competition between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means greater innovation in orbit,” an ex-agency official stated. “It isn't a negative to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”
