The aerospace company, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the eagerly awaited launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to adverse meteorological conditions at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Reasons
Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground caused early setbacks, followed by thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch ended, leaving managers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.
Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in recent months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To relieve airspace congestion amid the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is limiting private space launches starting Monday.
After scrubbing the mission, the company announced late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was targeting a new try as soon as Wednesday within a time slot of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time.
Mission Objectives
Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will carry NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, to study the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of sending people there.
The mission will also act as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the firm if successful.
Earlier Mission
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in the start of the year was marked as a success, as its cargo achieved orbit and successfully performed tests.
But its first-stage booster, which was designed as recoverable, did not stick its landing on a platform in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission Blue Origin will try once more to recover the booster stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment.
Industry Competition
Rival firms of billionaires Musk and Bezos are locked in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as NASA opened up bids for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was falling behind schedule.
Donald Trump’s second term has seen the administration push NASA to speed up 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,” an ex-agency official said. “It isn't a bad thing to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”
