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Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the eagerly awaited launch of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend because of adverse weather conditions at the Florida launch site.

Mission Postponement Causes

Precipitation and a ground system issue led to initial delays, followed by thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch closed, forcing managers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.

Rivalry between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been heating up in recent months.

Rescheduled Attempt

To relieve traffic in the skies amid the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting private space launches from Monday.

After scrubbing the mission, Blue Origin said late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for a new try as soon as Wednesday within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.

Launch Goals

When it eventually launches, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will carry NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to the Red Planet, in an effort to examine the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of sending people there.

Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a crucial trial of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the firm if accomplished.

Previous Flight

New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was considered a success, as its cargo achieved orbit and completed experiments.

But its main rocket section, which was meant to be reusable, failed to make 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 make another attempt to land the first stage.

Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment.

Space Race

The competing companies of billionaires Bezos and Musk are locked in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as NASA began accepting proposals for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was lagging behind.

Donald Trump’s second term has seen the administration push NASA to accelerate its progress to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface in competition against China.

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

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