The aerospace company, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the highly anticipated launch of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend because of adverse meteorological conditions at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Reasons
Precipitation and a ground system issue caused early setbacks, then came thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch closed, forcing mission controllers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Competition between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been intensifying in recent months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To relieve airspace congestion during the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting private space launches from the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the mission, the company said late Sunday that, in coordination with the FAA, it was aiming for another attempt as early as midweek within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.
Launch Goals
When it eventually launches, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will transport NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, to study the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of human exploration.
The mission will also act as a key test of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would represent a major advancement for the firm if successful.
Previous Flight
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was marked as a success, as its cargo reached space and completed experiments.
But its main rocket section, which was designed as recoverable, did not stick its touchdown on a platform in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during descent.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission Blue Origin will try once more to recover the booster stage.
Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has managed that feat.
Industry Competition
Rival firms of tycoons Bezos and Musk are locked in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as NASA began accepting proposals for its planned moon mission, complaining that SpaceX was lagging behind.
Donald Trump’s second term has involved the administration push NASA to speed up its timeline to launch astronauts to the lunar surface in competition against China.
More rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means greater innovation in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It can’t be a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”
