🔗 Share this article Jeff Bezos' Space Firm's Second Rocket Launch Postponed Due to Inclement Atmospheric Situation The aerospace company, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the highly anticipated launch of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to adverse meteorological factors at the Florida launch site. Mission Postponement Causes Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground caused early setbacks, followed by thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, leaving mission controllers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission. Competition between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in the past few months. New Launch Window To relieve airspace congestion amid the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting private space launches starting Monday. Following the cancellation of the launch, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was targeting a new try as soon as midweek within a time slot of afternoon hours EST. Launch Goals Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will carry NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, in an effort to study 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 its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would prove a major advancement for the company if successful. Previous Flight New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was marked as a success, as its payload reached space and completed 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. Recovery Efforts In its second effort the launch provider will make another attempt to land the booster stage. Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment. Industry Competition The competing companies of tycoons Musk and Bezos are engaged in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as NASA began accepting bids for its lunar exploration program, complaining that SpaceX was falling behind schedule. The current administration has seen the government pile pressure on the agency to accelerate its progress to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface amid a race with China. More rivalry between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.” “More launches means more ideas in space,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It isn't a negative to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”