🔗 Share this article Jeff Bezos' Space Firm's Latest Mission Delayed Because of Inclement Atmospheric Situation Blue Origin, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to delay the highly anticipated launch of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to adverse weather conditions at Cape Canaveral. Mission Postponement Reasons Precipitation and a ground system issue caused early setbacks, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window 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 recent months. New Launch Window To ease traffic in the skies during the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting private space launches from the beginning of the week. After scrubbing the launch, the company announced late Sunday that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as midweek within a time slot of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time. Launch Goals Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will transport NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to Mars, in an effort to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of human exploration. The mission will also act as a key test of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the firm if successful. Earlier Mission The rocket's first launch in January was considered a achievement, as its cargo achieved orbit and successfully performed tests. But its first-stage booster, which was designed as recoverable, failed to make its landing on a platform in the ocean, and instead was lost during descent. Recovery Efforts For this new mission the launch provider will try once more to land the first stage. Thus far, only SpaceX has achieved that feat. Space Race Rival firms of tycoons Bezos and Musk are engaged in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as NASA opened up proposals for its planned moon mission, complaining that one company was lagging behind. The current administration has seen the government push the agency to speed up its timeline to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface amid a race with the Asian nation. More rivalry between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to launch.” “More launches means greater innovation in orbit,” an ex-agency official said. “It isn't a bad thing to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”