Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the eagerly awaited launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday because of unfavorable weather conditions at the Florida launch site.
Mission Postponement Reasons
Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground caused early setbacks, then came cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window ended, leaving mission controllers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.
Competition between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in recent months.
New Launch Window
To relieve airspace congestion during the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting private space launches starting the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the mission, Blue Origin said late Sunday that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was targeting another attempt as soon as Wednesday within a window of afternoon hours EST.
Mission Objectives
Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will transport NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, in an effort to study the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of sending people there.
Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a key test of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would represent a major advancement for the company if successful.
Previous Flight
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was considered a achievement, as its payload achieved orbit and successfully performed tests.
But its main rocket section, which was meant to be recoverable, failed to make its landing on a platform in the ocean, and instead was lost during the return phase.
Recovery Efforts
In its second effort Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the first stage.
Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that feat.
Industry Competition
The competing companies of tycoons Musk and Bezos are locked in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency began accepting proposals for its planned moon mission, complaining that one company was falling behind schedule.
The current administration has seen the administration push NASA to accelerate its progress to send a crewed mission to the Moon in competition against the Asian nation.
More rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.”
“More launches means more ideas in space,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It isn't a negative to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”
