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Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the highly anticipated launch of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend because of adverse meteorological conditions at the Florida launch site.

Mission Postponement Causes

Precipitation and a ground system issue caused early setbacks, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch closed, forcing managers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.

Rivalry between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in the past few months.

Rescheduled Attempt

To ease airspace congestion amid the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is restricting private space launches starting the beginning of the week.

After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was aiming for another attempt as early as Wednesday within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.

Launch Goals

Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will carry the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, in an effort to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of human exploration.

Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a key test of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the company if successful.

Previous Flight

The rocket's first launch in January was considered a achievement, as its cargo reached space and completed experiments.

But its main rocket section, which was designed as reusable, did not stick its landing on a platform in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during descent.

Recovery Efforts

For this new mission Blue Origin will try once more to land the first stage.

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

Space Race

Rival firms of billionaires Musk and Bezos are engaged in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as NASA began accepting proposals for its planned moon mission, complaining that SpaceX was lagging behind.

Donald Trump’s second term has seen the administration push the agency to accelerate its timeline to launch astronauts to the lunar surface amid a race with China.

More rivalry between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.”

“Additional missions means greater innovation in space,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”