The aerospace company, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited launch of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend because of adverse weather conditions at Cape Canaveral.
Launch Delay Reasons
Rainfall and a ground system issue caused initial delays, then came cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window closed, forcing managers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in the past few months.
New Launch Window
To relieve airspace congestion amid the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is restricting private space launches from the beginning of the week.
After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin announced on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the FAA, it was aiming for a new try as early as Wednesday within a time slot of afternoon hours EST.
Mission Objectives
When it eventually launches, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will transport NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, in an effort to study the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of sending people there.
Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a key test of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the firm if accomplished.
Earlier Mission
The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was considered a success, as its cargo reached space and successfully performed experiments.
But its first-stage booster, which was designed as recoverable, failed to make its touchdown on a platform in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.
Recovery Efforts
In its second effort the launch provider will make another attempt to recover the booster stage.
Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has managed that feat.
Space Race
Rival firms of billionaires Musk and Bezos are locked in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as NASA opened up proposals for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was lagging behind.
Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government push the agency to accelerate its timeline to launch astronauts to the lunar surface in competition against the Asian nation.
More rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.”
“Additional missions means more ideas in space,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It isn't a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”
