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Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the highly anticipated liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to unfavorable meteorological conditions at Cape Canaveral.

Launch Delay Reasons

Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground led to early setbacks, followed by thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window closed, forcing mission controllers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.

Competition between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been heating up in the past few months.

New Launch Window

To relieve traffic in the skies amid the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs from Monday.

After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin said on Sunday evening that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was targeting a new try as soon as midweek within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.

Launch Goals

When it eventually launches, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will transport the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to Mars, in an effort to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of sending people there.

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

Previous Flight

The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was marked as a success, as its cargo reached space and successfully performed tests.

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

Landing Attempts

In its second effort Blue Origin will make another attempt to recover the booster stage.

Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that feat.

Industry Competition

The competing companies of billionaires Musk and Bezos are engaged in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency opened up bids for its planned moon mission, noting that one company was falling behind schedule.

Donald Trump’s second term has seen the administration pile pressure on the agency to speed up its progress to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface in competition against the Asian nation.

Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to liftoff.”

“More launches means greater innovation in orbit,” an ex-agency official said. “It isn't a negative to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”