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Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to unfavorable weather conditions at Cape Canaveral.

Mission Postponement Reasons

Rainfall and a ground system issue led to initial delays, then came cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch closed, forcing managers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.

Competition between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in the past few months.

Rescheduled Attempt

To ease airspace congestion during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is restricting private space launches from the beginning of the week.

Following the cancellation of the mission, the company said late Sunday that, in coordination with the FAA, it was targeting another attempt as soon as midweek within a time slot of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.

Mission Objectives

When it eventually launches, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will carry NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, in an effort to examine the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of human exploration.

Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a key test of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would represent a major advancement for the firm if successful.

Previous Flight

The rocket's first launch in January was marked as a achievement, as its cargo achieved orbit and completed tests.

But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be recoverable, failed to make its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.

Recovery Efforts

In its second effort Blue Origin will make another attempt to land the first stage.

Thus far, only SpaceX has managed that feat.

Industry Competition

The competing companies of tycoons Musk and Bezos are engaged in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as NASA opened up bids for its planned moon mission, complaining that one company was falling behind schedule.

The current administration has involved the administration pile pressure on NASA to speed up its timeline to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface in competition against the Asian nation.

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

“Additional missions means greater innovation in space,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”