Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the eagerly awaited liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday due to adverse meteorological conditions at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Causes
Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground led to early setbacks, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, leaving mission controllers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.
Competition between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in recent months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To relieve traffic in the skies amid the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting private space launches starting Monday.
After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin announced on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was targeting another attempt as early as Wednesday within a time slot of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.
Launch Goals
Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will transport NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to the Red Planet, to study the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of human exploration.
Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a key test of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the company if accomplished.
Earlier Mission
The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was marked as a success, as its payload achieved orbit and successfully performed 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 the launch provider will try once more to land the first stage.
Thus far, only SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment.
Industry Competition
Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are locked in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as NASA began accepting proposals for its lunar exploration program, complaining that SpaceX was lagging behind.
The current administration has seen the administration push the agency to speed up its timeline to send a crewed mission to the Moon amid a race with China.
More rivalry between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.”
“Additional missions means greater innovation in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”
