The aerospace company, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to unfavorable meteorological conditions at Cape Canaveral.
Launch Delay Causes
Precipitation and a ground system issue led to initial delays, then came cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window ended, forcing mission controllers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.
Competition between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been heating up in recent months.
New Launch Window
To ease traffic in the skies amid the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs starting Monday.
After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin 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 carry NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to the Red Planet, to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of sending people there.
Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a key test of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the firm if accomplished.
Previous Flight
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was marked as a success, as its cargo reached space and successfully performed experiments.
But its first-stage booster, which was designed as reusable, did not stick its touchdown on a platform in the ocean, and instead was lost during descent.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission the launch provider will make another attempt to land the first stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.
Industry Competition
Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are engaged in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as NASA opened up bids for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was lagging behind.
Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government pile pressure on NASA to accelerate its progress to launch astronauts to the lunar surface amid a race with China.
More rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “expand our options with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means more ideas in space,” an ex-agency official said. “It can’t be a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”
