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The aerospace company, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the eagerly awaited launch of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday because of unfavorable weather factors at the Florida launch site.

Launch Delay Reasons

Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground led to initial delays, then came thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch ended, forcing managers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.

Rivalry between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in the past few months.

New Launch Window

To ease airspace congestion during the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting private space launches starting Monday.

After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was targeting another attempt as soon as midweek within a window of afternoon hours EST.

Launch Goals

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

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

Earlier Mission

The rocket's first launch in January was marked as a achievement, as its cargo achieved orbit and successfully performed tests.

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

Recovery Efforts

In its second effort the launch provider will try once more to recover the first stage.

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

Space Race

The competing companies of tycoons Musk and Bezos are locked in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency began accepting proposals for its lunar exploration program, complaining 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 amid a race with the Asian nation.

More rivalry between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to liftoff.”

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