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The aerospace company, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday because of unfavorable meteorological factors at Cape Canaveral.

Mission Postponement Causes

Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground caused early setbacks, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window closed, forcing managers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.

Competition between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in recent months.

New Launch Window

To relieve traffic in the skies during the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs from the beginning of the week.

After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin said on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the FAA, it was targeting a new try as early as Wednesday within a time slot of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time.

Mission Objectives

Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will transport NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, to study the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of sending people there.

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

Earlier Mission

The rocket's first launch in January was considered a success, as its payload reached space and successfully performed tests.

But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be reusable, failed to make its touchdown on a platform in the ocean, and instead was lost during descent.

Landing Attempts

In its second effort Blue Origin will make another attempt to land the booster stage.

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

Space Race

Rival firms of tycoons Bezos and Musk are engaged in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as the space agency opened up proposals for its lunar exploration program, noting that one company was falling behind schedule.

The current administration has seen the administration push NASA to accelerate its progress to launch astronauts to the lunar surface in competition against the Asian nation.

More rivalry between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to liftoff.”

“More launches means greater innovation in space,” an ex-agency official stated. “It isn't a negative to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”