🔗 Share this article Jeff Bezos' Space Firm's Second Rocket Launch Delayed Due to Poor Atmospheric Situation Blue Origin, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the eagerly awaited liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday due to adverse weather factors at the Florida launch site. Launch Delay Causes Rainfall and a ground system issue caused early setbacks, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window closed, forcing mission controllers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight. Rivalry between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been heating up in the past few months. New Launch Window To relieve airspace congestion amid the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is restricting private space launches starting Monday. Following the cancellation of the launch, the company said late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for another attempt as early as midweek within a window of afternoon hours EST. Mission Objectives Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will carry the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, in an effort to examine the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of sending people there. Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a key test of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the firm if accomplished. Previous Flight The rocket's first launch in January was marked as a success, as its payload reached space and completed tests. But its main rocket section, which was meant to be recoverable, did not stick its landing on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and instead was lost during the return phase. Landing Attempts 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 tycoons Musk and Bezos are locked in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency opened up bids for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was lagging behind. The current administration has involved the administration pile pressure on the agency to accelerate its progress to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface in competition against the Asian nation. More rivalry between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to launch.” “Additional missions means greater innovation in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It can’t be a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”