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Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the eagerly awaited launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to unfavorable meteorological factors at Cape Canaveral.

Launch Delay Reasons

Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground caused initial delays, then came cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch ended, leaving mission controllers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.

Competition between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been intensifying in the past few months.

New Launch Window

To relieve traffic in the skies during the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting private space launches from Monday.

Following the cancellation of the launch, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, in coordination with the FAA, it was targeting another attempt as soon as midweek within a window of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.

Mission Objectives

When it eventually launches, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will transport the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, in an effort to study the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of human exploration.

The mission will also serve as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would prove a major advancement for the company if accomplished.

Earlier Mission

New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was considered a success, as its cargo achieved orbit and successfully performed experiments.

But its main rocket section, which was designed as reusable, did not stick its touchdown on a platform in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during descent.

Recovery Efforts

For this new mission Blue Origin will try once more to land the first stage.

Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.

Space Race

Rival firms of billionaires Bezos and Musk are engaged in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as NASA opened up proposals for its lunar exploration program, complaining that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.

Donald Trump’s second term has seen the administration pile pressure on the agency to accelerate its progress to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface in competition against the Asian nation.

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

“Additional missions means greater innovation in orbit,” an ex-agency official said. “It isn't a bad thing to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”