Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited launch of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday due to unfavorable meteorological factors at the Florida launch site.
Mission Postponement Causes
Rainfall and a ground system issue caused initial delays, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, leaving mission controllers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.
Rivalry between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been heating up in the past few months.
New Launch Window
To relieve airspace congestion during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs from the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the launch, the company announced late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was targeting a new try as early as Wednesday within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time.
Mission Objectives
Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will transport NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to the Red Planet, to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of sending people there.
The mission will also serve as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would prove a major advancement for the firm if accomplished.
Previous Flight
The rocket's first launch in January was marked as a achievement, as its cargo achieved orbit and successfully performed tests.
But its main rocket section, which was designed as recoverable, did not stick its landing on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during descent.
Landing Attempts
For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the first stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has managed that feat.
Industry Competition
Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are locked in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as the space agency opened up proposals for its lunar exploration program, complaining that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.
Donald Trump’s second term has seen the administration pile pressure on the agency to accelerate its progress to launch astronauts 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 can’t be a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”
