🔗 Share this article Jeff Bezos' Space Firm's Latest Rocket Launch Delayed Due to Inclement Atmospheric Situation Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to adverse weather conditions at the Florida launch site. Launch Delay Reasons Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground caused initial delays, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window closed, leaving mission controllers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission. Competition between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in the past few months. Rescheduled Attempt To ease airspace congestion during the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs starting Monday. After scrubbing the launch, the company announced late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for another attempt as early as midweek within a window of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time. Mission Objectives Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will transport the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, to examine the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of sending people there. The mission will also act as a crucial trial of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would prove a major advancement for the company if accomplished. Previous Flight The rocket's first launch in January was marked as a success, as its payload reached space and completed tests. But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be recoverable, failed to make its touchdown on a platform in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during descent. Recovery Efforts For this new mission the launch provider will try once more to recover the first stage. Thus far, only SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment. Space Race Rival firms of billionaires Musk and Bezos are engaged in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as NASA began accepting bids for its lunar exploration program, complaining that one company was falling behind schedule. The current administration has involved the government push the agency to speed up its progress to launch astronauts to the lunar surface amid a race with the Asian nation. More rivalry between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to launch.” “Additional missions 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.”