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Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the eagerly awaited liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend because of unfavorable weather factors at Cape Canaveral.

Mission Postponement Causes

Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground led to initial delays, then came cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window ended, forcing managers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.

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

New Launch Window

To ease airspace congestion during the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs starting Monday.

Following the cancellation of the mission, Blue Origin announced on Sunday evening that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was targeting another attempt as soon as Wednesday within a window of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.

Launch Goals

Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will transport NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, to study the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of human exploration.

The mission will also act as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the company if successful.

Previous Flight

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

But its main rocket section, which was designed as recoverable, failed to make its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during the return phase.

Landing Attempts

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

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

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 SpaceX was lagging behind.

Donald Trump’s second term has involved the administration push NASA to accelerate its timeline to launch astronauts to the lunar surface in competition against China.

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

“Additional missions means more ideas in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It can’t be a negative to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”