🔗 Share this article Blue Origin's Latest Rocket Launch Postponed Because of Poor Weather Conditions The aerospace company, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to unfavorable meteorological conditions at Cape Canaveral. Mission Postponement Causes Precipitation and a ground system issue led to initial delays, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, forcing mission controllers 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. Rescheduled Attempt To relieve airspace congestion amid the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting private space launches starting the beginning of the week. After scrubbing the launch, the company said on Sunday evening that, working alongside the FAA, it was targeting another attempt as early as Wednesday within a window of afternoon hours EST. Launch Goals Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will carry the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to Mars, to examine the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of human exploration. The mission will also act as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the company if accomplished. Previous Flight The rocket's first launch in January was marked as a achievement, as its cargo achieved orbit and completed tests. But its main rocket section, which was meant to be reusable, failed to make its landing on a platform in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during descent. Recovery Efforts In its second effort Blue Origin will try once more to land the first stage. Thus far, only SpaceX has managed that accomplishment. Industry Competition Rival firms of tycoons Bezos and Musk are locked in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as NASA began accepting bids for its planned moon mission, complaining that one company was falling behind schedule. Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government pile pressure on NASA to speed up its progress to launch astronauts to the Moon amid a race with China. Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to launch.” “Additional missions means more ideas in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It isn't a negative to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”