Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to unfavorable weather conditions at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Causes
Precipitation and a ground system issue caused initial delays, then came cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window ended, leaving managers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in recent months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To relieve traffic in the skies amid the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs from the beginning of the week.
After scrubbing the mission, Blue Origin said late Sunday that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was targeting a new try as early as midweek within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time.
Mission Objectives
Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will transport NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to the Red Planet, to examine the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of human exploration.
Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a key test of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would prove a major advancement 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 completed experiments.
But its first-stage booster, which was designed as recoverable, did not stick its touchdown on a platform in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during the return phase.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission the launch provider will try once more to land the booster stage.
Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that feat.
Industry Competition
The competing companies of billionaires Musk and Bezos are locked in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as NASA began accepting bids for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was lagging behind.
Donald Trump’s second term has seen the administration push NASA to speed up its progress to launch astronauts to the Moon amid a race with China.
More rivalry between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means greater innovation in space,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It isn't a bad thing to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”
