Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the eagerly awaited launch of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend because of adverse weather factors at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Reasons
Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground led to initial delays, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window ended, leaving managers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Rivalry between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been heating up in the past few months.
New Launch Window
To relieve traffic in the skies amid the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is restricting private space launches starting the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the launch, the company announced on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was targeting a new try as soon as midweek within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time.
Launch Goals
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 eventual hope of human exploration.
The mission will also act as a key test of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would represent a major advancement for the company if successful.
Previous Flight
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in the start of the year was considered a success, as its payload reached space and completed 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 descent.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission Blue Origin will try once more to recover the booster stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has managed that feat.
Space Race
Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are engaged in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as NASA opened up bids for its lunar exploration program, complaining that SpaceX was lagging behind.
Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government pile pressure on the agency to accelerate its progress to send a crewed mission to the Moon amid a race with the Asian nation.
More rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“More launches means greater innovation in space,” an ex-agency official stated. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”
