Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to delay the highly anticipated liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to adverse weather factors at Cape Canaveral.
Mission Postponement Causes
Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground caused initial delays, then came cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window closed, forcing mission controllers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Rivalry between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in the past few months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To ease airspace congestion amid the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting private space launches from the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the launch, Blue Origin announced on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was aiming for a new try as soon as midweek within a time slot of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.
Launch Goals
When it eventually launches, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will transport NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to the Red Planet, in an effort to examine the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of sending people there.
The mission will also act as a crucial trial of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the firm if successful.
Earlier Mission
The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was considered a achievement, as its payload reached space and successfully performed experiments.
But its first-stage booster, which was designed as reusable, failed to make its landing on a platform in the ocean, and instead was lost during the return phase.
Recovery Efforts
In its second effort Blue Origin will try once more to recover the first stage.
Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has managed 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 proposals for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was falling behind schedule.
The current administration has seen the government pile pressure on NASA to accelerate its timeline to launch astronauts to the Moon in competition against the Asian nation.
More rivalry between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means more ideas in space,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It isn't a negative to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”
