Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday because of adverse meteorological conditions at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Causes
Precipitation and a ground system issue caused early setbacks, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, leaving managers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.
Competition between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in recent months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To relieve airspace congestion during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs from Monday.
Following the cancellation of the launch, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for a new try as soon as Wednesday within a time slot of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.
Launch Goals
Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will transport the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, in an effort to examine the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of sending people there.
The mission will also serve as a key test of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would represent a major advancement for the company if successful.
Previous Flight
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in the start of the year was considered a achievement, as its payload reached space and completed experiments.
But its first-stage booster, which was designed as reusable, did not stick 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 managed that feat.
Space Race
The competing companies of tycoons Bezos and Musk are engaged in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency opened up proposals for its lunar exploration program, complaining that one company was falling behind schedule.
Donald Trump’s second term has involved the government push NASA to accelerate its progress to launch astronauts to the lunar surface amid a race with the Asian nation.
More rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to liftoff.”
“More launches means more ideas in space,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It isn't a bad thing to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”
