The aerospace company, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the highly anticipated launch of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend because of adverse weather conditions at the Florida launch site.
Mission Postponement Reasons
Rainfall and a ground system issue caused early setbacks, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, forcing mission controllers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.
Rivalry between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in recent months.
New Launch Window
To relieve traffic in the skies during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs starting Monday.
After scrubbing the mission, Blue Origin said late Sunday that, in coordination with the FAA, it was targeting another attempt as early as Wednesday within a time slot of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.
Mission Objectives
When it eventually launches, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will transport the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, in an effort to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of human exploration.
The mission will also act as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the firm if successful.
Previous Flight
The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was marked as a achievement, as its cargo reached space and successfully performed experiments.
But its main rocket section, which was designed as recoverable, did not stick its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and instead was lost during descent.
Landing Attempts
In its second effort Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the first stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has managed that feat.
Industry Competition
The competing companies of billionaires Musk and Bezos are locked in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as NASA began accepting proposals for its planned moon mission, complaining that SpaceX 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 amid a race with China.
Increased competition between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to launch.”
“Additional missions means greater innovation in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It isn't a negative to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”
