Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the eagerly awaited launch of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday because of adverse weather factors at the Florida launch site.
Mission Postponement Reasons
Precipitation and a ground system issue led to initial delays, followed by thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window closed, leaving mission controllers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.
Competition between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been heating up in recent months.
New Launch Window
To ease traffic in the skies during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is limiting private space launches from the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the launch, Blue Origin said on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was targeting another attempt as early as Wednesday within a time slot of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.
Launch Goals
Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will transport the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to the Red Planet, 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 whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would represent a major advancement for the firm if accomplished.
Earlier Mission
The rocket's first launch in January was marked as a achievement, as its payload achieved orbit and successfully performed tests.
But its first-stage booster, which was designed as recoverable, did not stick its touchdown on a platform in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during descent.
Recovery Efforts
In its second effort the launch provider will try once more to recover the first stage.
Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment.
Industry Competition
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 planned moon mission, noting that SpaceX was lagging behind.
The current administration has involved the administration push NASA to accelerate its timeline to send a crewed mission to the Moon in competition against China.
Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “expand our options with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means greater innovation in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”
