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Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the highly anticipated liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend due to unfavorable meteorological factors at the Florida launch site.

Mission Postponement Causes

Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground led to early setbacks, then came cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window ended, leaving mission controllers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.

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

New Launch Window

To ease airspace congestion during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs starting the beginning of the week.

Following the cancellation of the mission, the company said on Sunday evening that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for a new try as soon as midweek within a window of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.

Mission Objectives

When it eventually launches, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will transport the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, to examine the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of sending people there.

Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the company if accomplished.

Previous Flight

New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was marked as a achievement, as its cargo achieved orbit and successfully performed tests.

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

Recovery Efforts

For this new mission the launch provider will try once more to land the first stage.

Until now, only SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.

Industry Competition

Rival firms of tycoons Bezos and Musk are locked in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as NASA opened up proposals for its planned moon mission, noting that SpaceX was lagging behind.

The current administration has seen the administration pile pressure on the agency to speed up its timeline to launch astronauts to the lunar surface in competition against the Asian nation.

Increased competition between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.”

“Additional missions means greater innovation in orbit,” an ex-agency official stated. “It isn't a bad thing to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”