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The aerospace company, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend because of unfavorable weather conditions at Cape Canaveral.

Launch Delay Reasons

Precipitation and a ground system issue led to early setbacks, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, leaving managers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.

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

Rescheduled Attempt

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

After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin said on Sunday evening that, working alongside the FAA, it was targeting another attempt as soon as midweek 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 the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to the Red Planet, in an effort to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of human exploration.

Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a crucial trial of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would represent a major advancement for the firm if accomplished.

Previous Flight

The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was considered a success, as its payload achieved orbit and successfully performed experiments.

But its first-stage booster, which was designed as recoverable, did not stick its landing on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during the return phase.

Landing Attempts

For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to land the first stage.

Until now, only SpaceX has achieved that feat.

Industry Competition

Rival firms of billionaires Bezos and Musk are engaged in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as NASA began accepting bids for its lunar exploration program, complaining that one company was lagging behind.

Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government pile pressure on NASA to accelerate its progress to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface amid a race with China.

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

“More launches means more ideas in orbit,” an ex-agency official said. “It isn't a negative to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”