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The aerospace company, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the highly anticipated liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday because of unfavorable meteorological conditions at the Florida launch site.

Mission Postponement Causes

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

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

Rescheduled Attempt

To relieve airspace congestion amid the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting private space launches from the beginning of the week.

After scrubbing the mission, the company announced on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the FAA, it was aiming for a new try as soon as midweek within a time slot of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.

Launch Goals

When it eventually launches, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will transport the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, to study the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of sending people there.

The mission will also serve as a key test of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the company if successful.

Previous Flight

The rocket's first launch in January was marked as a achievement, as its cargo reached space and completed experiments.

But its first-stage booster, which was designed as reusable, failed to make its landing on a ocean-based target in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during descent.

Landing Attempts

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

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

Industry Competition

The competing companies of tycoons Bezos and Musk are engaged in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as NASA opened up bids for its planned moon mission, noting that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.

The current administration has seen the administration push NASA to speed up its progress to launch astronauts to the lunar surface amid a race with the Asian nation.

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

“More launches means more ideas in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It isn't a bad thing to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”