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Blue Origin, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited launch of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend because of unfavorable weather factors at Cape Canaveral.

Launch Delay Reasons

Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground caused initial delays, then came cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch closed, leaving mission controllers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.

Competition between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been heating up in the past few months.

New Launch Window

To relieve traffic in the skies during the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs starting Monday.

Following the cancellation of the mission, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was targeting a new try as early as Wednesday within a window of afternoon hours EST.

Mission Objectives

When it eventually launches, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will transport the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, to examine the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of human exploration.

The mission will also act as a key test of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would prove a major advancement for the company if accomplished.

Earlier Mission

New Glenn’s inaugural flight in the start of the year was considered a achievement, as its payload achieved orbit and successfully performed tests.

But its first-stage booster, which was designed as reusable, did not stick its landing on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and instead was lost during the return phase.

Recovery Efforts

For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the booster stage.

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

Industry Competition

Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are engaged in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as NASA began accepting bids for its planned moon mission, complaining that one company was lagging behind.

The current administration has involved the government pile pressure on NASA to accelerate its progress to launch astronauts to the Moon amid a race with China.

More rivalry 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.”