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Blue Origin, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the highly anticipated launch of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend because of unfavorable weather conditions at the Florida launch site.

Launch Delay Causes

Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground led to initial delays, then came cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window closed, leaving mission controllers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.

Competition between Bezos' firm and Musk's space company has been heating up in recent months.

New Launch Window

To ease airspace congestion amid the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is restricting private space launches from Monday.

Following the cancellation of the mission, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, in coordination with the FAA, it was targeting a new try as early as midweek within a time slot of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.

Launch Goals

When it eventually launches, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will transport the US space agency'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.

The mission will also act as a crucial trial of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would prove a major advancement for the firm if successful.

Previous Flight

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

But its main rocket section, which was meant to be recoverable, failed to make its landing on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during descent.

Landing Attempts

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

Thus far, only SpaceX has achieved that feat.

Industry Competition

Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are locked in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as NASA began accepting bids for its lunar exploration program, noting that SpaceX was lagging behind.

Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government push the agency to speed up its timeline to launch astronauts to the lunar surface in competition against China.

Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”

“More launches means greater innovation in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”