Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to delay the highly anticipated liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to unfavorable weather factors at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Reasons
Rainfall and a ground system issue led to initial delays, then came thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch ended, leaving managers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.
Rivalry between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in recent months.
New Launch Window
To ease airspace congestion during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs from the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the launch, the company said late Sunday that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was aiming for another attempt as early as Wednesday within a time slot of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.
Launch Goals
Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will transport NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, to study the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of human exploration.
The mission will also act as a crucial trial of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the company if accomplished.
Earlier Mission
The rocket's first launch in January was marked as a success, as its cargo reached space and successfully performed tests.
But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be reusable, did not stick its landing on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.
Landing Attempts
In its second effort the launch provider will try once more to land the booster stage.
Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that feat.
Space Race
Rival firms of tycoons Bezos and Musk are locked in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as the space agency opened up bids for its planned moon mission, noting that SpaceX was lagging behind.
The current administration has seen the administration pile pressure on the agency to accelerate its progress to launch astronauts to the lunar surface in competition against China.
More rivalry between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.”
“More launches means greater innovation in orbit,” an ex-agency official stated. “It can’t be a bad thing to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”
