Blue Origin, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the highly anticipated liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday because of adverse meteorological conditions at Cape Canaveral.
Launch Delay Causes
Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground led to early setbacks, then came cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window ended, forcing managers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.
Rivalry between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in the past few months.
New Launch Window
To ease traffic in the skies amid the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs from Monday.
After scrubbing the mission, the company announced on Sunday evening that, working alongside the FAA, it was targeting a new try as early as Wednesday within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.
Launch Goals
When it eventually launches, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will transport the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to the Red Planet, to examine the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of sending people there.
The mission 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
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was considered a success, as its cargo achieved orbit and completed experiments.
But its first-stage booster, which was designed as recoverable, did not stick its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.
Landing Attempts
For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the first stage.
Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has managed that feat.
Space Race
Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are locked in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as NASA opened up bids for its lunar exploration program, complaining that one company was lagging behind.
Donald Trump’s second term has involved the administration pile pressure on NASA to speed up its timeline to launch astronauts to the lunar surface in competition against China.
Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means greater innovation in orbit,” an ex-agency official stated. “It can’t be a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”
