Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the highly anticipated liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to unfavorable meteorological conditions at the Florida launch site.
Mission Postponement Reasons
Rainfall and a ground system issue led to initial delays, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, leaving managers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.
Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in recent months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To ease traffic in the skies during the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting private space launches starting Monday.
After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was aiming for a new try as soon as midweek within a time slot of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.
Launch Goals
When it eventually launches, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will transport NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to Mars, in an effort to examine the Martian atmospheric past 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 the start of the year was marked as a achievement, as its cargo reached space and completed experiments.
But its first-stage booster, which was designed as reusable, failed to make its landing on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.
Landing Attempts
In its second effort Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the booster stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has achieved that feat.
Industry Competition
Rival firms of billionaires Bezos and Musk are locked in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency opened up bids for its planned moon mission, complaining that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.
Donald Trump’s second term has involved the government pile pressure on the agency to speed up its progress to launch astronauts to the lunar surface 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 space,” an ex-agency official said. “It can’t be a negative to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”
