Blue Origin, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to adverse meteorological factors at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Reasons
Precipitation and a ground system issue caused initial delays, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window closed, forcing managers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.
Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been heating up in the past few months.
New Launch Window
To relieve airspace congestion during the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting private space launches starting the beginning of the week.
After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin said on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as Wednesday within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.
Launch Goals
When it eventually launches, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will carry NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to the Red Planet, in an effort to study the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of human exploration.
The mission will also serve as a key test of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the firm if successful.
Previous Flight
The rocket's first launch in January was marked as a success, as its payload reached space and successfully performed tests.
But its first-stage booster, which was designed as recoverable, did not stick its touchdown on a platform in the ocean, and instead was lost during the return phase.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the booster stage.
Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.
Industry Competition
The competing companies of tycoons Musk and Bezos are locked in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency began accepting proposals for its planned moon mission, noting that one company was lagging behind.
The current administration has involved the government pile pressure on the agency to speed up its progress to launch astronauts to the Moon in competition against China.
Increased competition between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.”
“Additional missions means greater innovation in orbit,” an ex-agency official said. “It can’t be a negative to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”
