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The aerospace company, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the highly anticipated liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend because of adverse meteorological conditions at Cape Canaveral.

Mission Postponement Causes

Rainfall and a ground system issue led to early setbacks, followed by thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, forcing mission controllers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.

Rivalry between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in recent months.

Rescheduled Attempt

To ease airspace congestion amid the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is limiting private space launches from the beginning of the week.

After scrubbing the mission, Blue Origin said late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was targeting another attempt as early as Wednesday within a time slot of afternoon hours EST.

Launch Goals

Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will carry the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to Mars, to examine the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of sending people there.

The mission will also serve as a key test of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would represent a major advancement for the firm if successful.

Previous Flight

The rocket's first launch in January was marked as a success, as its cargo achieved orbit and successfully performed tests.

But its main rocket section, which was designed as recoverable, failed to make its touchdown on a platform in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during descent.

Landing Attempts

For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the booster stage.

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

Space Race

The competing companies of tycoons Musk and Bezos are locked in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency began accepting proposals for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was falling behind schedule.

Donald Trump’s second term has involved the administration push NASA to speed up its timeline to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface in competition against the Asian nation.

Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.”

“More launches means more ideas in orbit,” an ex-agency official said. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”