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The aerospace company, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the highly anticipated liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend because of unfavorable meteorological conditions at Cape Canaveral.

Mission Postponement Reasons

Rainfall and a ground system issue led to early setbacks, followed by thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch ended, forcing mission controllers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.

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

Rescheduled Attempt

To relieve airspace congestion during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs starting the beginning of the week.

Following the cancellation of the launch, the company said on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was targeting another attempt as early as Wednesday within a window of afternoon hours EST.

Mission Objectives

Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will carry the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to Mars, to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of human exploration.

Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a crucial trial of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would prove a major advancement for the company if accomplished.

Previous Flight

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

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

Recovery Efforts

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

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

Space Race

The competing companies of billionaires Musk and Bezos are locked in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as NASA opened up bids for its planned moon mission, complaining that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.

Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government push NASA to accelerate its progress to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface in competition against China.

Increased competition between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”

“Additional missions means greater innovation in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It isn't a negative to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”