🔗 Share this article Jeff Bezos' Space Firm's Second Rocket Launch Postponed Due to Poor Atmospheric Situation The aerospace company, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited launch of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday due to unfavorable weather conditions at Cape Canaveral. Launch Delay Causes Precipitation and a ground system issue caused initial delays, followed by thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window closed, leaving managers to reschedule 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 amid the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs starting Monday. Following the cancellation of the launch, the company announced on Sunday evening that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for a new try as soon as Wednesday within a time slot of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST. Launch Goals Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will transport NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, in an effort to study the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of human exploration. The mission will also act as a crucial trial of its ability to perform 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 completed tests. But its main rocket section, which was meant to be reusable, failed to make its landing on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during descent. Landing Attempts For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the booster stage. Thus far, only SpaceX has managed that accomplishment. Space Race Rival firms of tycoons Bezos and Musk are engaged in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as NASA began accepting proposals for its lunar exploration program, noting that SpaceX was falling behind schedule. Donald Trump’s second term has involved the government push the agency to accelerate its progress 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 more ideas in space,” an ex-agency official said. “It isn't a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”