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The aerospace company, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the highly anticipated liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday because of unfavorable meteorological conditions at the Florida launch site.

Mission Postponement Reasons

Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground caused initial delays, then came thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch ended, forcing mission controllers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.

Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been heating up in recent months.

New Launch Window

To relieve airspace congestion amid the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs from Monday.

After scrubbing the mission, the company announced on Sunday evening that, working alongside the FAA, it was targeting another attempt as early as Wednesday within a time slot of afternoon hours EST.

Mission Objectives

Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will transport NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to Mars, to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of sending people there.

Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a key test of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the firm if successful.

Previous Flight

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

But its main rocket section, which was designed as recoverable, did not stick its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during the return phase.

Landing Attempts

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

Until now, only SpaceX has managed that feat.

Industry Competition

Rival firms 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.

Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government push NASA to accelerate its timeline to launch astronauts to the lunar surface in competition against China.

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

“More launches means greater innovation in space,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It can’t be a negative to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”