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The aerospace company, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the highly anticipated launch of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend because of adverse weather factors at Cape Canaveral.

Launch Delay Reasons

Precipitation and a ground system issue caused initial delays, then came cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window closed, forcing managers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.

Rivalry between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been intensifying in the past few months.

Rescheduled Attempt

To relieve traffic in the skies during the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting private space launches from the beginning of the week.

After scrubbing the mission, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, in coordination with the FAA, it was aiming for a new try as soon as midweek within a window of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.

Mission Objectives

When it eventually launches, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will transport the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, in an effort to study the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of sending people there.

Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a crucial trial of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would represent a major advancement for the firm if successful.

Previous Flight

New Glenn’s inaugural flight in the start of the year was considered a success, as its payload reached space and successfully performed tests.

But its main rocket section, which was meant to be reusable, did not stick its landing on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and instead was lost during descent.

Recovery Efforts

For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to land the first stage.

Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that feat.

Space Race

The competing companies of billionaires Bezos and Musk are locked in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as the space agency began accepting bids for its lunar exploration program, complaining that one company was lagging behind.

The current administration has seen the administration pile pressure on the agency to accelerate its timeline to send a crewed mission to the Moon in competition against China.

More rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”

“Additional missions means more ideas in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It isn't a bad thing to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”