🔗 Share this article Jeff Bezos' Space Firm's Latest Rocket Launch Delayed Because of Inclement Weather Conditions Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to unfavorable meteorological conditions at the Florida launch site. Launch Delay Causes Rainfall and a ground system issue led to initial delays, followed by thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window closed, forcing managers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission. Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in recent months. New Launch Window To relieve airspace congestion during the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting private space launches starting the beginning of the week. After scrubbing the launch, the company announced late Sunday that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was targeting a new try as early as midweek within a time slot of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time. Launch Goals When it eventually launches, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will carry the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to Mars, to study the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of human exploration. The mission will also act as a key test of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would prove a major advancement for the firm if successful. Previous Flight New Glenn’s inaugural flight in the start of the year was considered a achievement, as its payload achieved orbit and completed experiments. But its first-stage booster, which was designed as recoverable, failed to make its touchdown on a platform in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during the return phase. Landing Attempts In its second effort Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the first stage. Thus far, only SpaceX has achieved that feat. Industry Competition Rival firms of billionaires Bezos and Musk are locked in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as the space agency opened up proposals for its lunar exploration program, noting that SpaceX was lagging behind. Donald Trump’s second term has seen the administration push the agency to speed up its timeline to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface amid a race with the Asian nation. Increased competition between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to liftoff.” “Additional missions means greater innovation in space,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It isn't a negative to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”