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Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend because of unfavorable weather conditions at the Florida launch site.

Launch Delay Reasons

Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground led to initial delays, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window closed, forcing managers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.

Competition between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been intensifying in the past few months.

New Launch Window

To relieve airspace congestion during the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting private space launches from the beginning of the week.

Following the cancellation of the launch, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was targeting another attempt as soon as midweek within a time slot of afternoon hours EST.

Launch Goals

When it eventually launches, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will carry the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of sending people there.

The mission will also serve as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the company if accomplished.

Earlier Mission

New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was considered a achievement, as its payload reached space and completed tests.

But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be reusable, did not stick its landing on a platform in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.

Landing Attempts

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

Until now, only SpaceX has achieved that feat.

Industry Competition

Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are locked in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as NASA began accepting bids for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was falling behind schedule.

Donald Trump’s second term has seen the administration push the agency to speed up its progress to launch astronauts to the Moon in competition against China.

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

“Additional missions means greater innovation in space,” an ex-agency official said. “It isn't a bad thing to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”