Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to unfavorable weather conditions at Cape Canaveral.
Mission Postponement Reasons
Precipitation and a ground system issue caused initial delays, then came thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch ended, forcing managers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.
Rivalry between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in recent months.
Rescheduled Attempt
To ease airspace congestion during the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs starting the beginning of the week.
After scrubbing the mission, Blue Origin said late Sunday that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was aiming for another attempt as early as midweek within a window of afternoon hours EST.
Mission Objectives
When it eventually launches, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will transport NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to Mars, to study the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of sending people there.
Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a key test of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the firm if successful.
Earlier Mission
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was considered a success, as its cargo reached space and completed experiments.
But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be recoverable, failed to make its landing 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 try once more to recover the first stage.
Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment.
Space Race
The competing companies of tycoons Bezos and Musk are engaged in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as NASA opened up bids for its planned moon mission, noting that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.
Donald Trump’s second term has seen the administration push NASA to speed up its timeline to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface in competition against the Asian nation.
More rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”
“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.”
