The aerospace company, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday due to adverse meteorological factors at Cape Canaveral.
Launch Delay Causes
Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground led to initial delays, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch closed, leaving mission controllers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.
Rivalry between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in recent months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To relieve traffic in the skies amid the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs starting Monday.
After scrubbing the mission, Blue Origin said late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for a new try as early as midweek within a window of afternoon hours EST.
Mission Objectives
When it eventually launches, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will transport the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, in an effort to examine the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of sending people there.
The mission will also serve as a key test of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would represent a major advancement for the company if successful.
Earlier Mission
The rocket's first launch in January was marked as a achievement, as its payload achieved orbit and completed tests.
But its first-stage booster, which was designed as reusable, failed to make its landing 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 recover the first stage.
Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment.
Space Race
Rival firms of billionaires Bezos and Musk are locked in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as NASA opened up bids for its planned moon mission, noting that one company was falling behind schedule.
The current administration has involved the administration pile pressure on the agency to accelerate its timeline to send a crewed mission to the Moon amid a race with China.
Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.”
“Additional missions means greater innovation in space,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It isn't a negative to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”
