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The aerospace company, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend because of unfavorable weather factors at the Florida launch site.

Launch Delay Reasons

Precipitation and a ground system issue led to early setbacks, then came cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch ended, forcing managers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.

Competition between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been intensifying in recent months.

New Launch Window

To relieve airspace congestion during the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting private space launches from Monday.

Following the cancellation of the mission, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was targeting a new try as early as midweek within a time slot of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time.

Mission Objectives

Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will carry the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to Mars, in an effort to examine 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 successful.

Previous Flight

New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was considered a achievement, as its payload reached space and completed experiments.

But its main rocket section, which was meant to be recoverable, did not stick its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and instead was lost during descent.

Landing Attempts

In its second effort Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the first stage.

Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that feat.

Space Race

The competing companies of billionaires Bezos and Musk are locked in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency began accepting proposals for its planned moon mission, complaining that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.

Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government pile pressure on the agency to speed up its progress to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface amid a race with the Asian nation.

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

“Additional missions means greater innovation in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It can’t be a negative to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”