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Blue Origin, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the eagerly awaited liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend because of adverse meteorological factors at Cape Canaveral.

Launch Delay Causes

Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground caused early setbacks, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window ended, forcing managers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.

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

New Launch Window

To ease airspace congestion during the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting private space launches starting Monday.

After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as midweek within a time slot of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.

Mission Objectives

When it eventually launches, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will carry NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, in an effort to examine the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of human exploration.

The mission will also act as a key test of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would prove a major advancement for the firm if accomplished.

Previous Flight

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

But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be recoverable, failed to make its touchdown on a platform in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during descent.

Recovery Efforts

In its second effort Blue Origin will try once more to land the first stage.

Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that feat.

Industry Competition

The competing companies of tycoons Bezos and Musk are locked in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as NASA began accepting bids for its planned moon mission, noting that one company was falling behind schedule.

Donald Trump’s second term has seen the administration pile pressure on the agency to speed up its progress to send a crewed mission to the Moon amid a race with China.

More rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin 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.”