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Blue Origin, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the highly anticipated liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend due to unfavorable meteorological factors at the Florida launch site.

Mission Postponement Causes

Precipitation and a ground system issue led to initial delays, then came thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch closed, leaving mission controllers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.

Competition between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in the past few months.

Rescheduled Attempt

To ease airspace congestion during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is restricting private space launches starting Monday.

After scrubbing the mission, the company announced on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was aiming for a new try as soon as Wednesday within a window of afternoon hours EST.

Launch Goals

Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will carry the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, in an effort to study the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of sending people there.

Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a crucial trial of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the company if successful.

Earlier Mission

The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was marked as a success, as its cargo reached space and successfully performed experiments.

But its first-stage booster, which was designed as recoverable, failed to make its touchdown on a platform in the ocean, and instead was lost during descent.

Landing Attempts

For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to land the booster stage.

Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has managed that feat.

Industry Competition

Rival firms of tycoons Bezos and Musk are locked in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as the space agency opened up proposals for its planned moon mission, complaining that one company was falling behind schedule.

The current administration has involved the administration pile pressure on the agency to speed up its progress to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface in competition against China.

More rivalry between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.”

“More launches means more ideas in orbit,” an ex-agency official stated. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”