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Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to delay the highly anticipated liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend because of unfavorable weather conditions at Cape Canaveral.

Mission Postponement Causes

Rainfall and a ground system issue led to early setbacks, then came cumulus cloud cover 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 heating up in recent months.

New Launch Window

To relieve airspace congestion amid the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting private space launches from the beginning of the week.

After scrubbing the mission, the company said late Sunday that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was aiming for a new try as early as midweek within a time slot of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time.

Mission Objectives

When it eventually launches, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will transport NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to the Red Planet, in an effort to study the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of human exploration.

The mission will also serve as a key test of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the company if successful.

Earlier Mission

The rocket's first launch in January was considered a success, as its cargo reached space and completed experiments.

But its main rocket section, which was meant to be reusable, did not stick its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during descent.

Landing Attempts

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

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

Industry Competition

Rival firms of billionaires Bezos and Musk are engaged in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency began accepting bids for its planned moon mission, complaining that SpaceX was lagging behind.

Donald Trump’s second term has involved the government pile pressure on NASA to accelerate its progress to send a crewed mission to the Moon amid a race with the Asian nation.

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

“Additional missions means more ideas in space,” an ex-agency official said. “It isn't a negative to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”