🔗 Share this article Jeff Bezos' Space Firm's Latest Mission Postponed Due to Poor Atmospheric Situation Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday because of unfavorable weather factors at Cape Canaveral. Launch Delay Causes Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground led to early setbacks, then came thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch closed, forcing mission controllers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight. Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been intensifying in the past few months. New Launch Window To relieve traffic in the skies during the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs starting Monday. After scrubbing the mission, the company announced on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was targeting another attempt as soon as midweek within a time slot of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST. Launch Goals Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will transport NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to the Red Planet, to study the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of human exploration. Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a key test of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would represent a major advancement for the firm if successful. Previous Flight The rocket's first launch in January was considered a success, as its payload achieved orbit and successfully performed tests. But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be recoverable, failed to make its landing on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during descent. Landing Attempts In its second effort Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the first stage. Until now, only SpaceX has achieved that feat. Industry Competition The competing companies of tycoons Musk and Bezos are engaged in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency began accepting bids for its lunar exploration program, noting that SpaceX was lagging behind. Donald Trump’s second term has involved the government pile pressure on the agency to speed up its progress to launch astronauts 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.” “More launches means more ideas in space,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It isn't a negative to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”