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Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the eagerly awaited launch of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend because of adverse weather conditions at the Florida launch site.

Launch Delay Reasons

Rainfall and a ground system issue led to early setbacks, then came thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch closed, forcing managers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.

Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in the past few months.

New Launch Window

To relieve airspace congestion amid the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is limiting private space launches starting Monday.

Following the cancellation of the mission, the company announced late Sunday that, in coordination with the FAA, it was targeting another attempt as soon as Wednesday within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.

Mission Objectives

When it eventually launches, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will carry NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to Mars, to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of sending people there.

Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a key test of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would prove a major advancement for the company if successful.

Previous Flight

New Glenn’s inaugural flight in the start of the year was marked as a success, as its cargo reached space and successfully performed experiments.

But its main rocket section, which was designed as reusable, failed to make its touchdown on a platform 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.

Until now, only SpaceX has achieved that feat.

Industry Competition

Rival firms of billionaires Bezos and Musk are locked in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as NASA opened up bids for its lunar exploration program, complaining that SpaceX was lagging behind.

The current administration has seen the government push the agency to accelerate its timeline to launch astronauts to the Moon in competition against the Asian nation.

Increased competition between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to launch.”

“More launches means more ideas in space,” an ex-agency official said. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”