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Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the highly anticipated launch of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to adverse weather conditions at the Florida launch site.

Mission Postponement Causes

Precipitation and a ground system issue caused early setbacks, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, leaving managers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.

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

Rescheduled Attempt

To relieve traffic in the skies amid the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs starting Monday.

Following the cancellation of the mission, Blue Origin announced on Sunday evening that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was aiming for another attempt as early as Wednesday within a time slot of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.

Launch Goals

When it eventually launches, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will carry the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to the Red Planet, to study the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of sending people there.

The mission will also serve as a crucial trial of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would prove a major advancement for the company if successful.

Earlier Mission

New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was marked as a achievement, as its payload reached space and completed tests.

But its first-stage booster, which was designed as reusable, failed to make its touchdown on a platform in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.

Recovery Efforts

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

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

Space Race

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

Donald Trump’s second term has seen the administration pile pressure on NASA to accelerate its timeline to launch astronauts to the lunar surface amid a race with China.

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

“Additional missions means more ideas in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It can’t be a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”