Blue Origin, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the highly anticipated launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday because of unfavorable meteorological conditions at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Reasons
Precipitation and a ground system issue caused 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.
Competition between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been heating up in the past few months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To ease airspace congestion amid the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs from the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the launch, the company said on Sunday evening that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was aiming for another attempt as early as midweek within a time slot of afternoon hours EST.
Launch Goals
Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will carry NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, in an effort to examine the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of human exploration.
Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a key test of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the company if successful.
Previous Flight
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in the start of the year was considered a achievement, as its cargo reached space and successfully performed tests.
But its first-stage booster, which was designed as recoverable, failed to make its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.
Landing Attempts
For this new mission the launch provider will make another attempt to recover the first stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has managed that feat.
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 SpaceX was lagging behind.
The current administration has seen the government pile pressure on the agency to speed up its timeline to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface in competition against China.
Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to liftoff.”
“More launches means more ideas in orbit,” an ex-agency official stated. “It can’t be a negative to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”
