Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend because of unfavorable weather conditions at Cape Canaveral.
Launch Delay Reasons
Precipitation and a ground system issue caused initial delays, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window closed, forcing managers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.
Rivalry between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in recent months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To relieve airspace congestion during the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is restricting private space launches from Monday.
Following the cancellation of the mission, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as midweek within a time slot of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.
Mission Objectives
Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will transport the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, in an effort to study the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of sending people there.
The mission will also act as a key test of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the company if successful.
Previous Flight
The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was marked as a achievement, as its payload reached space and completed tests.
But its main rocket section, which was meant to be reusable, did not stick its landing on a platform in the ocean, and instead was lost during the return phase.
Landing Attempts
In its second effort Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the first stage.
Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that feat.
Industry Competition
The competing companies of tycoons Bezos and Musk are engaged in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as NASA began accepting proposals for its planned moon mission, noting that one company was falling behind schedule.
Donald Trump’s second term has seen the administration push the agency to accelerate its progress to launch astronauts to the lunar surface in competition against the Asian nation.
Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to liftoff.”
“More launches means more ideas in space,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It isn't a negative to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”
