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The aerospace company, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to delay the highly anticipated liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday because of adverse meteorological factors at the Florida launch site.

Mission Postponement Causes

Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground caused early setbacks, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, forcing mission controllers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.

Rivalry between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company 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 from the beginning of the week.

After scrubbing the mission, the company announced late Sunday that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was targeting another attempt as early as Wednesday within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time.

Launch Goals

When it eventually launches, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will transport NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, to study the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of sending people there.

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

Earlier Mission

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

But its main rocket section, which was designed as reusable, did not stick its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and instead was lost during the return phase.

Landing Attempts

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

Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.

Industry Competition

The competing companies of tycoons Bezos and Musk are locked in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency began accepting proposals for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was lagging behind.

The current administration has seen the government push the agency to speed up its timeline to send a crewed mission to the Moon in competition against China.

More rivalry between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to liftoff.”

“More launches means more ideas in orbit,” an ex-agency official stated. “It can’t be a negative to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”