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Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to delay the highly anticipated launch of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday due to unfavorable weather factors at the Florida launch site.

Launch Delay Reasons

Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground caused initial delays, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch closed, leaving managers to reschedule 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 relieve airspace congestion during the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs starting the beginning of the week.

After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was targeting another attempt as soon as midweek within a time slot of afternoon hours EST.

Launch Goals

When it eventually launches, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will transport NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to the Red Planet, in an effort to study the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of sending people there.

Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a key test of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would represent a major advancement for the company if successful.

Earlier Mission

New Glenn’s inaugural flight in the start of the year was considered a success, as its cargo achieved orbit and completed experiments.

But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be recoverable, did not stick its touchdown on a platform in the ocean, and instead was lost during descent.

Landing Attempts

In its second effort the launch provider will make another attempt to recover the booster stage.

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

Industry Competition

Rival firms of billionaires Bezos and Musk are locked in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as the space agency began accepting bids for its planned moon mission, complaining that one company was lagging behind.

The current administration has seen the government pile pressure on the agency to accelerate its timeline to launch astronauts to the lunar surface in competition against China.

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

“More launches means more ideas in space,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”