Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the highly anticipated launch of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend because of unfavorable weather conditions at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Reasons
Precipitation and a ground system issue caused initial delays, then came cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window closed, forcing managers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Competition between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in the past few months.
New Launch Window
To ease traffic in the skies amid the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs from the beginning of the week.
After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin said late Sunday that, in coordination with the FAA, it was targeting another attempt as soon as Wednesday within a time slot of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.
Mission Objectives
When it eventually launches, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will carry the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, to study the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of sending people there.
Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a key test of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would prove a major advancement for the company if successful.
Earlier Mission
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was marked as a achievement, as its cargo achieved orbit and successfully performed experiments.
But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be recoverable, did not stick its touchdown on a platform in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission the launch provider will try once more to land the first stage.
Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that feat.
Space Race
Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are locked in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as the space agency opened up bids for its planned moon mission, noting that one company was falling behind schedule.
The current administration has seen the administration pile pressure on NASA to accelerate 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 more ideas in space,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It isn't a negative to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”
