Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend because of unfavorable meteorological factors at the Florida launch site.
Mission Postponement Reasons
Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground caused initial delays, then came thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch 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 airspace congestion during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is limiting private space launches from Monday.
Following the cancellation of the launch, Blue Origin said late Sunday that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was aiming for another attempt as early as midweek within a window of afternoon hours EST.
Mission Objectives
When it eventually launches, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will transport NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, in an effort to study the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of human exploration.
Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a key test of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the company if successful.
Earlier Mission
The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was considered a achievement, as its cargo achieved orbit and successfully performed experiments.
But its main rocket section, which was designed as recoverable, did not stick its landing on a platform in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.
Recovery Efforts
In its second effort the launch provider will try once more to land the booster stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment.
Space Race
Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are engaged in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as NASA began accepting bids for its planned moon mission, noting that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.
The current administration has involved the administration push NASA to accelerate its timeline to send a crewed mission to the Moon amid a race with the Asian nation.
Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to liftoff.”
“Additional missions means more ideas in space,” an ex-agency official stated. “It can’t be a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”
