Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to delay the highly anticipated liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend because of unfavorable weather conditions at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Causes
Rainfall and a ground system issue led to initial delays, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window closed, forcing mission controllers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.
Competition between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been intensifying in the past few months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To relieve traffic in the skies during the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is restricting private space launches starting Monday.
Following the cancellation of the launch, Blue Origin announced on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the FAA, it was targeting a new try as early as Wednesday within a time slot of afternoon hours EST.
Launch Goals
Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will carry NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to the Red Planet, in an effort to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of sending people there.
The mission will also act as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would prove a major advancement for the company if successful.
Earlier Mission
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was considered a achievement, as its payload achieved orbit and successfully performed experiments.
But its main rocket section, which was meant to be reusable, failed to make its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to land the first stage.
Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.
Industry Competition
Rival firms of tycoons Bezos and Musk are locked in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as NASA opened up proposals for its lunar exploration program, complaining that one company was lagging behind.
The current administration has involved the government pile pressure on NASA to speed up its timeline to launch astronauts to the lunar surface amid a race with China.
More rivalry between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means greater innovation in orbit,” an ex-agency official said. “It isn't a negative to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”
