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The aerospace company, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the eagerly awaited launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to adverse meteorological conditions at Cape Canaveral.

Mission Postponement Reasons

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

Rivalry between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been heating up in the past few months.

Rescheduled Attempt

To relieve traffic in the skies during the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs starting the beginning of the week.

After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin said late Sunday that, in coordination with the FAA, it was targeting a new try as soon as midweek within a window of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.

Mission Objectives

When it eventually launches, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will carry NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, to study the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of human exploration.

Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the company if accomplished.

Previous Flight

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

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

Recovery Efforts

In its second effort Blue Origin will try once more to recover the booster stage.

Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment.

Industry Competition

The competing companies of tycoons Musk and Bezos are locked in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as NASA began accepting proposals for its planned moon mission, complaining that one company was lagging behind.

The current administration has seen the government pile pressure on the agency to speed up its progress to launch astronauts to the lunar surface amid a race with China.

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

“More launches means more ideas in orbit,” an ex-agency official said. “It isn't a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”