Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to delay the highly anticipated launch of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to adverse meteorological conditions at Cape Canaveral.
Launch Delay Causes
Rainfall and a ground system issue caused initial delays, followed by thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, forcing managers 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 relieve traffic in the skies amid the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs starting Monday.
Following the cancellation of the mission, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was targeting another attempt as soon as Wednesday within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time.
Mission Objectives
Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will transport NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to Mars, to study the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of human exploration.
The mission 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 accomplished.
Previous Flight
The rocket's first launch in January was considered a achievement, as its payload reached space and successfully performed tests.
But its first-stage booster, which was designed as reusable, failed to make its touchdown on a platform in the ocean, and instead was lost during the return phase.
Landing Attempts
For this new mission the launch provider will make another attempt to land the booster stage.
Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that feat.
Industry Competition
Rival firms of tycoons Bezos and Musk are engaged in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as NASA opened up proposals for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was falling behind schedule.
Donald Trump’s second term has involved the administration pile pressure on the agency to accelerate its timeline to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface in competition against the Asian nation.
Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “expand our options with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means greater innovation in space,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It isn't a bad thing to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”
