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Blue Origin, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the highly anticipated liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend because of adverse meteorological conditions at the Florida launch site.

Launch Delay Causes

Rainfall and a ground system issue led to early setbacks, then came cumulus cloud cover 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 US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs from Monday.

After scrubbing the mission, the company said on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the FAA, it was targeting a new try as soon as midweek within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.

Launch Goals

Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will transport the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to Mars, to examine the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of human exploration.

Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would represent a major advancement for the company if accomplished.

Earlier Mission

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

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

Recovery Efforts

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

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

Space Race

The competing companies of billionaires Bezos and Musk are locked in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as the space agency opened up proposals for its lunar exploration program, complaining that one company was lagging behind.

The current administration has seen the administration pile pressure on NASA to accelerate its progress to launch astronauts to the Moon in competition against the Asian nation.

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

“More launches means greater innovation in space,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It isn't a negative to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”