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The aerospace company, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend because of adverse weather factors at the Florida launch site.

Mission Postponement Causes

Rainfall and a ground system issue caused early setbacks, followed by thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch ended, forcing mission controllers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.

Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in recent months.

New Launch Window

To ease traffic in the skies during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs starting the beginning of the week.

After scrubbing the launch, the company announced late Sunday that, in coordination with the FAA, it was targeting another attempt as early as Wednesday within a time slot of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.

Mission Objectives

Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will carry the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to Mars, to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of sending people there.

Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a key test of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would prove a major advancement for the firm if accomplished.

Earlier Mission

The rocket's first launch in January was considered a success, as its payload achieved orbit and completed experiments.

But its main rocket section, which was designed as reusable, failed to make its touchdown on a platform in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during descent.

Recovery Efforts

For this new mission the launch provider will make another attempt to land the first stage.

Thus far, only SpaceX has managed that feat.

Space Race

The competing companies of billionaires Bezos and Musk are engaged in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as the space agency opened up proposals for its planned moon mission, complaining that one company was lagging behind.

Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government push NASA to speed up its timeline to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface amid a race with China.

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

“More launches means greater innovation in space,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It isn't a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”