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The aerospace company, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to adverse meteorological conditions at the Florida launch site.

Mission Postponement Causes

Precipitation and a ground system issue caused early setbacks, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch ended, forcing mission controllers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.

Rivalry between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been heating up in recent months.

New Launch Window

To ease airspace congestion amid the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs from the beginning of the week.

Following the cancellation of the launch, Blue Origin announced on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the FAA, it was targeting a new try as early as Wednesday within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time.

Launch Goals

When it eventually launches, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will transport NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of human exploration.

The mission will also act as a crucial trial of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would represent a major advancement for the company if accomplished.

Previous Flight

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

But its first-stage booster, which was designed as recoverable, did not stick its landing on a platform in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.

Landing Attempts

For this new mission the launch provider will try once more to recover the first stage.

Until now, only SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment.

Industry Competition

Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are engaged in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as the space agency began accepting bids for its lunar exploration program, complaining that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.

Donald Trump’s second term has involved the administration pile pressure on the agency to accelerate its timeline to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface amid a race with China.

More rivalry between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to liftoff.”

“More launches means greater innovation in space,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It isn't a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”