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Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the highly anticipated liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday due to adverse weather conditions at the Florida launch site.

Launch Delay Causes

Precipitation and a ground system issue led to early setbacks, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch ended, forcing mission controllers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.

Competition between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been intensifying in recent months.

New Launch Window

To ease airspace congestion amid the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs starting the beginning of the week.

Following the cancellation of the mission, the company announced on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was targeting another attempt as soon as midweek within a time slot of afternoon hours EST.

Launch Goals

When it eventually launches, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will carry NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to Mars, to examine the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of human exploration.

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

Previous Flight

The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was considered a achievement, 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 ocean, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.

Landing Attempts

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

Until now, only SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.

Space Race

Rival firms of tycoons Bezos and Musk are engaged in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency opened up proposals for its lunar exploration program, noting that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.

The current administration has seen the administration push NASA to accelerate its timeline to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface amid a race with China.

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

“More launches means more ideas in orbit,” an ex-agency official stated. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”