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Blue Origin, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the eagerly awaited launch of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend due to adverse meteorological factors at the Florida launch site.

Launch Delay Causes

Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground caused initial delays, followed by thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch ended, leaving managers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.

Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been heating up 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 private space launches starting the beginning of the week.

Following the cancellation of the launch, Blue Origin said on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the FAA, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as Wednesday within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.

Mission Objectives

Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will carry NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to Mars, in an effort to examine the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of human exploration.

The mission will also serve as a key test of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would represent a major advancement for the company if successful.

Earlier Mission

The rocket's first launch in January was considered a success, as its payload reached space and successfully performed tests.

But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be reusable, did not stick its landing on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and instead was lost during the return phase.

Recovery Efforts

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

Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.

Space Race

The competing companies of billionaires Bezos and Musk are engaged in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency opened up proposals for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was lagging behind.

The current administration has seen the government push NASA to speed up its timeline to launch astronauts to the Moon amid a race with the Asian nation.

Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”

“More launches means greater innovation in space,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It isn't a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”