Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to adverse meteorological factors at the Florida launch site.
Launch Delay Causes
Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground caused early setbacks, then came cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch closed, leaving mission controllers to reschedule 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 ease traffic in the skies amid the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs from the beginning of the week.
Following the cancellation of the mission, the company announced late Sunday that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was targeting a new try as soon as Wednesday within a time slot of afternoon hours EST.
Launch Goals
Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will carry NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, in an effort to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of sending people there.
Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the firm if successful.
Earlier Mission
New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was marked as a achievement, as its cargo reached space and completed experiments.
But its first-stage booster, which was designed as recoverable, failed to make its landing on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.
Recovery Efforts
For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to land the first stage.
Until now, only SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.
Industry Competition
The competing companies of tycoons Bezos and Musk are engaged in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency began accepting bids for its planned moon mission, noting that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.
The current administration has seen the administration push NASA to accelerate its timeline to launch astronauts to the lunar surface amid a race with China.
More rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to liftoff.”
“Additional missions means greater innovation in space,” an ex-agency official said. “It can’t be a negative to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”
