🔗 Share this article Blue Origin's Second Rocket Launch Postponed Due to Poor Atmospheric Situation The aerospace company, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the highly anticipated launch of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday because of adverse weather factors at the Florida launch site. Mission Postponement Reasons Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground caused initial delays, then came cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window closed, forcing mission controllers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission. Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been intensifying in the past few months. Rescheduled Attempt To relieve traffic in the skies during the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs from Monday. Following the cancellation of the launch, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as Wednesday within a window of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time. Launch Goals Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will transport NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, in an effort to examine the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of human exploration. The mission will also serve as a crucial trial of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would prove a major advancement for the firm if accomplished. Previous Flight New Glenn’s inaugural flight in the start of the year was considered a success, as its cargo achieved orbit and successfully performed tests. But its first-stage booster, which was designed as recoverable, failed to make its touchdown on a platform in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during descent. Landing Attempts For this new mission the launch provider will make another attempt to recover the first stage. Until now, only SpaceX has managed that accomplishment. Space Race The competing companies of tycoons Bezos and Musk are locked in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as NASA opened up bids for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was falling behind schedule. The current administration has involved the administration pile pressure on NASA to speed up its timeline to send a crewed mission to the Moon in competition against China. Increased competition between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to liftoff.” “More launches means more ideas in space,” an ex-agency official said. “It can’t be a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”