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Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited launch of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday due to unfavorable weather factors at Cape Canaveral.

Mission Postponement Reasons

Precipitation and a ground system issue led to early setbacks, then came cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window ended, forcing mission controllers to push back 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 ease traffic in the skies during the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs from Monday.

Following the cancellation of the mission, the company announced late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as Wednesday within a time slot of afternoon hours EST.

Launch Goals

When it eventually launches, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will carry NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, in an effort to examine the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of sending people there.

The mission will also act as a key test of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would prove a major advancement for the firm if accomplished.

Previous Flight

The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was marked as a success, as its payload achieved orbit and successfully performed experiments.

But its main rocket section, which was designed as recoverable, did not stick its landing on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during descent.

Landing Attempts

For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to land the booster stage.

Until now, only SpaceX has managed that feat.

Industry Competition

Rival firms of tycoons Bezos and Musk are engaged in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as NASA opened up proposals for its planned moon mission, complaining that one company was lagging behind.

Donald Trump’s second term has involved the administration push NASA to speed up its timeline to launch astronauts to the lunar surface amid a race with 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 said. “It can’t be a negative to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”