Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited launch of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend because of unfavorable meteorological conditions at Cape Canaveral.
Launch Delay Reasons
Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground led to early setbacks, then came cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch ended, forcing mission controllers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Rivalry between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in the past few months.
New Launch Window
To relieve traffic in the skies amid the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is limiting private space launches starting Monday.
Following the cancellation of the launch, the company announced late Sunday that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was targeting a new try as soon as Wednesday within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.
Launch Goals
Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will transport NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, to examine the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of sending people there.
Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a key test of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the company if accomplished.
Previous Flight
The rocket's first launch in January was considered a success, as its payload achieved orbit and successfully performed tests.
But its main rocket section, which was meant to be recoverable, did not stick its touchdown on a platform in the ocean, and instead was lost during the return phase.
Recovery Efforts
In its second effort the launch provider will make another attempt to land the booster stage.
Until now, only SpaceX has managed that feat.
Industry Competition
Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are locked in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as NASA opened up proposals for its lunar exploration program, complaining that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.
Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government pile pressure on NASA to speed up its timeline to launch astronauts to the Moon amid a race with the Asian nation.
Increased competition between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“More launches means more ideas in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It can’t be a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”
