🔗 Share this article Jeff Bezos' Space Firm's Latest Rocket Launch Delayed Due to Poor Weather Conditions The aerospace company, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to unfavorable meteorological factors at the Florida launch site. Launch Delay Reasons Precipitation and a ground system issue led to early setbacks, then came thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch closed, forcing mission controllers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission. Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in recent months. Rescheduled Attempt To relieve airspace congestion amid the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs from the beginning of the week. Following the cancellation of the launch, the company said late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was targeting a new try as soon as Wednesday within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST. Mission Objectives When it eventually launches, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will carry NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to Mars, to study the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of human exploration. The mission will also act as a crucial trial of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the firm if successful. Earlier Mission New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was marked as a success, as its cargo reached space and completed experiments. But its main rocket section, which was designed as reusable, did not stick its landing on a platform in the ocean, and instead was lost during the return phase. Landing Attempts For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to land the first stage. Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment. Industry Competition The competing companies of tycoons Bezos and Musk are locked in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency opened up bids for its lunar exploration program, noting that SpaceX was lagging behind. Donald Trump’s second term has involved the administration push the agency to speed up its timeline to send a crewed mission to the Moon amid a race with China. Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to liftoff.” “More launches means greater innovation in space,” an ex-agency official said. “It can’t be a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”