The aerospace company, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the highly anticipated launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to adverse meteorological factors at Cape Canaveral.
Launch Delay Reasons
Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground caused initial delays, then came cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window ended, forcing mission controllers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Competition between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in recent months.
New Launch Window
To relieve traffic in the skies during the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs starting Monday.
Following the cancellation of the mission, Blue Origin said on Sunday evening that, working alongside the FAA, it was targeting a new try as early as midweek within a window of afternoon hours EST.
Launch Goals
When it eventually launches, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will carry NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, to study the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of sending people there.
The mission will also act as a key test of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the company if successful.
Earlier Mission
The rocket's first launch in January was considered a success, as its cargo achieved orbit and completed experiments.
But its first-stage booster, which was designed as reusable, failed to make its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during descent.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the first stage.
Until now, only SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.
Industry Competition
Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are locked in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as NASA began accepting bids for its planned moon mission, noting that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.
Donald Trump’s second term has involved the government pile pressure on NASA to speed up its progress to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface in competition against the Asian nation.
Increased competition between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means greater innovation in space,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”
