Jeff Bezos' Space Firm's Latest Mission Delayed Due to Poor Atmospheric Situation

Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the eagerly awaited launch of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday because of adverse weather conditions at Cape Canaveral.

Launch Delay Causes

Precipitation and a ground system issue caused early setbacks, then came thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch ended, forcing managers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.

Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been intensifying in the past few months.

New Launch Window

To relieve airspace congestion amid the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting private space launches starting the beginning of the week.

After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin said on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was targeting another attempt as soon as midweek within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.

Mission Objectives

When it eventually launches, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will transport the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to Mars, in an effort to study the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of sending people there.

The mission will also act as a key test of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would prove a major advancement for the firm if accomplished.

Previous Flight

The rocket's first launch in January was marked as a achievement, as its payload achieved orbit and successfully performed experiments.

But its main rocket section, which was meant to be reusable, failed to make its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during descent.

Landing Attempts

In its second effort the launch provider will make another attempt to recover the booster stage.

Until now, only SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.

Space Race

The competing companies of tycoons Bezos and Musk are locked in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency opened up proposals for its lunar exploration program, noting that SpaceX was lagging behind.

The current administration has seen the government push NASA to accelerate its progress to launch astronauts to the lunar surface in competition against the Asian nation.

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

“Additional missions means greater innovation in orbit,” an ex-agency official stated. “It isn't a negative to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”