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Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the eagerly awaited launch of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend because of unfavorable weather conditions at the Florida launch site.

Mission Postponement Reasons

Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground led to early setbacks, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window closed, forcing mission controllers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.

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

New Launch Window

To relieve traffic in the skies during the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting private space launches from the beginning of the week.

Following the cancellation of the launch, Blue Origin said late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for a new try as early as midweek within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time.

Launch Goals

Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will carry NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, to study the Martian atmospheric past 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 represent a major advancement for the firm if successful.

Earlier Mission

The rocket's first launch in January was considered a achievement, as its payload reached space and completed tests.

But its main rocket section, which was meant to be recoverable, failed to make its landing on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during the return phase.

Landing Attempts

For this new mission the launch provider will make another attempt to recover the first stage.

Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has managed that feat.

Industry Competition

The competing companies of tycoons Musk and Bezos are engaged in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as NASA opened up proposals for its planned moon mission, complaining that one company was lagging behind.

Donald Trump’s second term has seen the administration pile pressure on NASA to accelerate its progress to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface amid a race with China.

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

“More launches means greater innovation in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It can’t be a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”