Blue Origin's Latest Rocket Launch Delayed Because of Poor Weather Conditions

Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to delay the highly anticipated liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to unfavorable weather factors at Cape Canaveral.

Launch Delay Causes

Precipitation and a ground system issue caused early setbacks, then came cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window closed, forcing managers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.

Rivalry between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in the past few months.

New Launch Window

To relieve airspace congestion amid the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting private space launches from Monday.

Following the cancellation of the mission, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was targeting another attempt as early as midweek within a time slot of 2.50pm to 4.17pm 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 sending people there.

Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a key test of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would represent a major advancement for the firm if successful.

Previous Flight

The rocket's first launch in January was marked as a success, as its cargo reached space and completed tests.

But its main rocket section, which was meant to be recoverable, failed to make its landing on a platform in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.

Recovery Efforts

For this new mission the launch provider will try once more to land the booster stage.

Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that feat.

Industry Competition

Rival firms of tycoons Bezos and Musk are locked in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as NASA began accepting bids for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was falling behind schedule.

The current administration has involved the administration pile pressure on the agency to speed up its timeline to launch astronauts to the Moon in competition against China.

Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.”

“Additional missions means greater innovation in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It isn't a bad thing to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”