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The aerospace company, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the eagerly awaited launch of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to unfavorable weather conditions at Cape Canaveral.

Launch Delay Reasons

Rainfall and a ground system issue led to early setbacks, followed by thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, forcing mission controllers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.

Competition between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been intensifying in recent months.

Rescheduled Attempt

To ease traffic in the skies during the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting private space launches from Monday.

After scrubbing the mission, Blue Origin announced on Sunday evening that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as midweek within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time.

Launch Goals

When it eventually launches, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will carry NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, in an effort to examine 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 successful.

Previous Flight

The rocket's first launch in January was considered a achievement, as its payload achieved orbit and successfully performed experiments.

But its first-stage booster, which was designed as reusable, failed to make its landing on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.

Recovery Efforts

In its second effort Blue Origin will try once more to land the first stage.

Thus far, only SpaceX has achieved that feat.

Space Race

Rival firms of billionaires Bezos and Musk are locked in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as NASA opened up proposals for its lunar exploration program, noting that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.

The current administration has seen the administration pile pressure on the agency to accelerate its progress to launch astronauts to the Moon amid a race with China.

Increased competition between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”

“More launches means greater innovation in space,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”