The aerospace company, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to adverse weather factors at the Florida launch site.
Mission Postponement Reasons
Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground led to early setbacks, then came cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window closed, leaving mission controllers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.
Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in the past few months.
New Launch Window
To relieve airspace congestion during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs starting Monday.
After scrubbing the mission, Blue Origin said on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was targeting a new try as early as Wednesday within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.
Launch Goals
Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will transport the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to the Red Planet, in an effort to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of human exploration.
Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a crucial trial of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the company if accomplished.
Earlier Mission
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in the start of the year was considered a success, as its payload achieved orbit and successfully performed experiments.
But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be reusable, did not stick its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during the return phase.
Landing Attempts
In its second effort Blue Origin will try once more to land the booster stage.
Until now, only SpaceX has achieved that feat.
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 bids for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was lagging behind.
Donald Trump’s second term has involved the administration pile pressure on the agency to accelerate its timeline to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface amid a race with the Asian nation.
More rivalry between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means greater innovation in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It isn't a bad thing to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”
