The aerospace company, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the eagerly awaited liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend because of unfavorable weather factors at Cape Canaveral.
Launch Delay Reasons
Precipitation and a ground system issue led to initial delays, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch closed, 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.
New Launch Window
To ease airspace congestion amid the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is restricting private space launches starting Monday.
Following the cancellation of the mission, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, in coordination with the FAA, it was targeting a new try as early as Wednesday within a window of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.
Mission Objectives
Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will carry NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to the Red Planet, to study the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of sending people there.
Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would represent a major advancement for the firm if successful.
Earlier Mission
The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was considered a achievement, as its payload achieved orbit and completed tests.
But its first-stage booster, which was designed as recoverable, failed to make its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.
Landing Attempts
For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the booster stage.
Until now, only SpaceX has managed that feat.
Space Race
The competing companies of billionaires Musk and Bezos are locked in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency began accepting bids for its planned moon mission, complaining that one company was falling behind schedule.
The current administration has involved the government push the agency to accelerate its timeline to send a crewed mission to the Moon in competition against the Asian nation.
Increased competition between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means greater innovation in orbit,” an ex-agency official stated. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”
