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Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday because of adverse meteorological factors at the Florida launch site.

Launch Delay Reasons

Precipitation and a ground system issue caused initial delays, then came cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window ended, forcing mission controllers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.

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

Rescheduled Attempt

To ease traffic in the skies during the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs from the beginning of the week.

After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin said late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was targeting a new try as soon as Wednesday within a window of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.

Launch Goals

When it eventually launches, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will carry NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, to examine the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of human exploration.

The mission will also act as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would prove a major advancement for the company if successful.

Previous Flight

New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was considered a success, as its cargo reached space and successfully performed tests.

But its main rocket section, which was meant to be recoverable, failed to make its touchdown on a platform in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during descent.

Landing Attempts

For this new mission Blue Origin will try once more to land the booster stage.

Thus far, only SpaceX has managed that feat.

Industry Competition

Rival firms of tycoons Bezos and Musk are engaged in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as NASA opened up bids for its lunar exploration program, noting that SpaceX was lagging behind.

Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government pile pressure on NASA to accelerate its timeline to launch astronauts to the lunar surface amid a race with the Asian nation.

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

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