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Blue Origin, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the highly anticipated liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to adverse weather conditions at Cape Canaveral.

Launch Delay Reasons

Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground led to initial delays, then came cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch closed, leaving mission controllers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.

Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in the past few months.

Rescheduled Attempt

To ease airspace congestion amid the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting private space launches starting the beginning of the week.

Following the cancellation of the launch, the company announced late Sunday that, in coordination with the FAA, it was targeting another attempt as soon as midweek within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time.

Launch Goals

Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will transport NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to Mars, in an effort to study the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of human exploration.

Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a key test of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the firm if accomplished.

Earlier Mission

New Glenn’s inaugural flight in the start of the year was considered a achievement, as its cargo reached space and successfully performed tests.

But its main rocket section, 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.

Recovery Efforts

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

Thus far, only SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment.

Industry Competition

Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are engaged in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as NASA opened up bids for its planned moon mission, complaining that one company was lagging behind.

Donald Trump’s second term has seen the administration pile pressure on the agency to accelerate its timeline to launch astronauts to the Moon amid a race with China.

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

“Additional missions means more ideas in space,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It isn't a negative to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”