🔗 Share this article Jeff Bezos' Space Firm's Latest Mission Delayed Because of Poor Atmospheric Situation The aerospace company, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the highly anticipated liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday because of unfavorable meteorological factors at the Florida launch site. Launch Delay Reasons Rainfall and a ground system issue led to early setbacks, then came cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window closed, forcing mission controllers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission. Rivalry between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in recent months. Rescheduled Attempt To relieve airspace congestion during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is limiting private space launches from Monday. After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin said on Sunday evening that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was aiming for a new try as soon as midweek within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time. Launch Goals When it eventually launches, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will carry the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, to study the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of human exploration. The mission will also act as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the company if accomplished. Previous Flight The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was considered a success, as its cargo achieved orbit and successfully performed tests. But its main rocket section, which was meant to be recoverable, failed to make its landing on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and instead was lost during descent. Recovery Efforts In its second effort the launch provider will try once more to recover the booster stage. Thus far, only SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment. Space Race Rival firms of billionaires Musk and Bezos are engaged in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency began accepting proposals for its planned moon mission, noting that SpaceX was falling behind schedule. Donald Trump’s second term has involved the administration push the agency to accelerate its timeline to launch astronauts to the Moon in competition against the Asian nation. More rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.” “More launches means more ideas in space,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It isn't a bad thing to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”