🔗 Share this article Jeff Bezos' Space Firm's Latest Mission Delayed Due to Inclement Weather Conditions The aerospace company, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the highly anticipated launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday because of adverse weather conditions at the Florida launch site. Mission Postponement Causes Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground caused initial delays, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window closed, leaving mission controllers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission. Competition between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in recent months. New Launch Window To relieve airspace congestion amid the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs starting the beginning of the week. After scrubbing the launch, the company announced on Sunday evening that, working alongside the FAA, it was targeting another attempt as early as Wednesday within a time slot of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time. Launch Goals When it eventually launches, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will carry NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to Mars, in an effort to examine the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of sending people there. The mission will also act as a crucial trial of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would prove a major advancement for the company if successful. Previous Flight The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was considered a achievement, as its cargo reached space and successfully performed experiments. But its main rocket section, which was designed as reusable, did not stick its landing on a platform in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during descent. Landing Attempts For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the booster stage. Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that feat. Space Race Rival firms of tycoons Bezos and Musk are locked in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency began accepting bids for its lunar exploration program, complaining that one company was falling behind schedule. The current administration has seen the government pile pressure on the agency to speed up its timeline to send a crewed mission to the Moon amid a race with the Asian nation. Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to launch.” “More launches means greater innovation in space,” an ex-agency official said. “It isn't a negative to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”