🔗 Share this article Blue Origin's Second Mission Delayed Due to Poor Weather Conditions The aerospace company, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday because of adverse meteorological conditions at the Florida launch site. Mission Postponement Reasons Precipitation and a ground system issue led to initial delays, followed by thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch ended, forcing mission controllers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight. Competition between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been heating up in recent months. Rescheduled Attempt To ease traffic in the skies amid the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs from Monday. After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin said on Sunday evening that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for a new try as early as midweek within a window of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time. Mission Objectives Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will carry NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, in an effort to study the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of human exploration. The mission will also serve as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would represent a major advancement for the company if accomplished. Previous Flight The rocket's first launch in January was marked as a achievement, as its cargo achieved orbit and completed tests. But its main rocket section, which was meant to be reusable, did not stick its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during the return phase. Landing Attempts In its second effort the launch provider will try once more to recover the booster stage. Until now, only SpaceX has achieved that feat. Industry Competition The competing companies of billionaires Bezos and Musk are engaged in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as NASA opened up proposals for its planned moon mission, noting that one company was falling behind schedule. Donald Trump’s second term has involved the government push the agency to speed up its progress to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface in competition against the Asian nation. Increased competition between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.” “More launches means greater innovation in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It isn't a negative to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”