The aerospace company, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the highly anticipated liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday because of adverse weather factors at Cape Canaveral.
Launch Delay Causes
Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground led to early setbacks, followed by thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch ended, forcing managers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.
Competition between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in recent months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To ease airspace congestion during the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting private space launches starting Monday.
After scrubbing the mission, Blue Origin said late Sunday that, in coordination with the FAA, it was targeting another attempt as soon as Wednesday within a window of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.
Launch Goals
When it eventually launches, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will transport NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to Mars, to examine the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of human exploration.
The mission will also act as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the firm if accomplished.
Earlier Mission
The rocket's first launch in January was marked as a success, as its payload reached space and completed experiments.
But its main rocket section, which was designed as recoverable, failed to make its landing on a platform in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.
Landing Attempts
In its second effort Blue Origin will make another attempt to land the booster stage.
Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has managed that feat.
Space Race
The competing companies of tycoons Bezos and Musk are locked in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency began accepting proposals for its lunar exploration program, complaining that one company was lagging behind.
Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government push the agency to accelerate its progress to launch astronauts to the Moon in competition against the Asian nation.
Increased competition between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means more ideas in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It can’t be a bad thing to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”
