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Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the highly anticipated launch of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend due to adverse meteorological conditions at Cape Canaveral.

Launch Delay Reasons

Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground led to initial delays, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window ended, forcing mission controllers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.

Competition between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in the past few months.

New Launch Window

To ease airspace congestion during the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting private space launches starting the beginning of the week.

After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin said late Sunday that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was targeting a new try as early as Wednesday within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time.

Mission Objectives

Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will transport NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of human exploration.

The mission will also serve as a crucial trial of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the firm if accomplished.

Previous Flight

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

But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be recoverable, failed to make its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.

Recovery Efforts

For this new mission the launch provider will make another attempt to recover the booster stage.

Until now, only SpaceX has managed that feat.

Space Race

Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are engaged in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as NASA began accepting bids for its planned moon mission, noting that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.

Donald Trump’s second term has involved the government pile pressure on NASA to accelerate its progress to launch astronauts to the lunar surface amid a race with China.

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

“More launches means greater innovation in space,” an ex-agency official said. “It can’t be a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”