Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the highly anticipated liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday due to unfavorable meteorological factors at the Florida launch site.
Mission Postponement 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 rocket’s planned second mission.
Rivalry between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in the past few months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To ease traffic in the skies amid the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is restricting private space launches from Monday.
After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin said on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the FAA, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as Wednesday within a time slot of afternoon hours EST.
Mission Objectives
When it eventually launches, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will carry NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, to study 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 represent a major advancement for the company if successful.
Earlier Mission
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was considered a achievement, as its payload achieved orbit and successfully performed tests.
But its main rocket section, which was designed as reusable, did not stick its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during descent.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission Blue Origin will try once more to land the booster stage.
Until now, only SpaceX has managed that feat.
Space Race
Rival firms of billionaires Bezos and Musk are engaged in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as NASA opened up proposals for its lunar exploration program, complaining that one company was falling behind schedule.
Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government pile pressure on NASA to accelerate its timeline to launch astronauts to the lunar surface in competition against the Asian nation.
More rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.”
“More launches means greater innovation in space,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It isn't a negative to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”
