The aerospace company, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the highly anticipated launch of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday because of adverse meteorological conditions 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, forcing mission controllers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.
Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in recent months.
New Launch Window
To relieve traffic in the skies amid the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is restricting private space launches from the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the launch, the company announced on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the FAA, it was targeting another attempt as early as Wednesday within a time slot of afternoon hours EST.
Launch Goals
Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will transport the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to Mars, in an effort to study the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of human exploration.
The mission will also act as a key test of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would represent a major advancement for the company if accomplished.
Earlier Mission
The rocket's first launch in January was considered a success, as its cargo achieved orbit and completed experiments.
But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be reusable, failed to make its landing on a platform in the ocean, and instead was lost during descent.
Landing Attempts
In its second effort Blue Origin will try once more to land the booster stage.
Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment.
Space Race
Rival firms of billionaires Bezos and Musk are locked in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as NASA began accepting bids for its lunar exploration program, noting that SpaceX was lagging behind.
The current administration has seen the government push the agency to speed up its timeline to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface in competition against the Asian nation.
More rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to liftoff.”
“More launches means greater innovation in space,” an ex-agency official said. “It isn't a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”
