🔗 Share this article Jeff Bezos' Space Firm's Latest Mission Postponed Because of Inclement Atmospheric Situation Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to adverse weather factors at Cape Canaveral. Mission Postponement Reasons Precipitation and a ground system issue caused initial delays, then came cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch closed, forcing mission controllers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission. Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in the past few months. New Launch Window To relieve traffic in the skies amid the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs starting the beginning of the week. Following the cancellation of the launch, the company said late Sunday that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was targeting a new try as early as midweek within a window of afternoon hours EST. Mission Objectives When it eventually launches, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will transport NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to Mars, in an effort to examine the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of human exploration. The mission will also act as a key test of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the firm if successful. Earlier Mission New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was considered a achievement, as its cargo achieved orbit and completed experiments. But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be recoverable, did not stick its landing on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and instead was lost during descent. Landing Attempts In its second effort Blue Origin will try once more to land the first stage. Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that feat. Industry Competition The competing companies of billionaires Bezos and Musk are engaged in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as NASA opened up proposals for its lunar exploration program, noting that SpaceX was falling behind schedule. The current administration has seen the government push the agency to speed up its progress to send a crewed mission to the Moon in competition against the Asian nation. More rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to launch.” “Additional missions means greater innovation in space,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It isn't a negative to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”