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The aerospace company, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the highly anticipated launch of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend due to unfavorable meteorological factors at Cape Canaveral.

Launch Delay Reasons

Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground caused early setbacks, then came cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window closed, forcing mission controllers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.

Rivalry between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in recent months.

New Launch Window

To ease traffic in the skies during the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting private space launches starting the beginning of the week.

Following the cancellation of the launch, Blue Origin said on Sunday evening that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for a new try as soon as midweek within a time slot of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.

Mission Objectives

When it eventually launches, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will carry the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, to study the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of human exploration.

Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a key test of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the firm if accomplished.

Earlier Mission

The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was considered a success, as its payload achieved orbit and successfully performed experiments.

But its main rocket section, which was meant to be reusable, did not stick its landing on a platform in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.

Recovery Efforts

In its second effort the launch provider will try once more to land the booster stage.

Thus far, only SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment.

Space Race

Rival firms of billionaires Bezos and Musk are engaged in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as the space agency opened up proposals for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was lagging behind.

The current administration has involved the government pile pressure on the agency to accelerate its timeline to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface amid a race with China.

Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to liftoff.”

“Additional missions means more ideas in orbit,” an ex-agency official stated. “It isn't a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”