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The aerospace company, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend due to unfavorable meteorological factors at Cape Canaveral.

Launch Delay Causes

Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground led to initial delays, followed by thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window closed, forcing managers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.

Rivalry between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been heating up in recent months.

Rescheduled Attempt

To ease traffic in the skies during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is restricting private space launches from Monday.

Following the cancellation of the launch, Blue Origin said on Sunday evening that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was aiming for a new try as soon as Wednesday within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time.

Mission Objectives

Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will carry NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, in an effort to study the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of sending people there.

The mission will also act as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would represent a major advancement for the company if accomplished.

Earlier Mission

The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was marked as a achievement, as its payload achieved orbit and completed experiments.

But its main rocket section, which was meant to be reusable, failed to make its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during the return phase.

Landing Attempts

In its second effort Blue Origin will try once more to recover the first stage.

Until now, only SpaceX has managed that feat.

Space Race

Rival firms of tycoons Bezos and Musk are locked in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as the space agency began accepting bids for its planned moon mission, complaining that one company was lagging behind.

The current administration has involved the administration push the agency to speed up its timeline to launch astronauts to the Moon in competition against China.

Increased competition between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to liftoff.”

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