Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the eagerly awaited liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday due to adverse weather factors at Cape Canaveral.
Mission Postponement Causes
Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground led to early setbacks, followed by thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window closed, leaving mission controllers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.
Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been intensifying in recent months.
New Launch Window
To relieve traffic in the skies amid the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting private space launches starting Monday.
After scrubbing the mission, the company said on Sunday evening that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was targeting a new try as soon as Wednesday within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.
Launch Goals
When it eventually launches, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will transport the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, in an effort to examine the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of human exploration.
Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a key test of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the firm if accomplished.
Previous Flight
The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was considered a achievement, as its cargo reached space and successfully performed experiments.
But its main rocket section, which was meant to be recoverable, failed to make its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during descent.
Landing Attempts
In its second effort Blue Origin will try once more to land the booster stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has managed that feat.
Space Race
Rival firms of billionaires Musk and Bezos are locked in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency opened up bids for its planned moon mission, noting that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.
Donald Trump’s second term has involved the administration pile pressure on NASA to speed up its progress to launch astronauts to the lunar surface in competition against the Asian nation.
Increased competition between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means more ideas in space,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It can’t be a bad thing to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”
