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

Launch Delay Reasons

Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground led to early setbacks, then came cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch closed, forcing managers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.

Competition between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in the past few months.

New Launch Window

To ease airspace congestion amid the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting private space launches from Monday.

After scrubbing the mission, the company announced late Sunday that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was aiming for a new try as soon as Wednesday within a time slot of afternoon hours EST.

Launch Goals

When it eventually launches, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will transport NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to Mars, in an effort to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of sending people there.

Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a key test of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would represent a major advancement for the company if accomplished.

Previous Flight

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

But its first-stage booster, which was designed as recoverable, failed to make its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during descent.

Recovery Efforts

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

Until now, only SpaceX has managed that feat.

Industry Competition

The competing companies of billionaires Bezos and Musk are engaged in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency began accepting bids for its planned moon mission, complaining that SpaceX was lagging behind.

The current administration has involved the government push NASA to speed up its progress to launch astronauts to the lunar surface in competition against the Asian nation.

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

“Additional missions means greater innovation in space,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It isn't a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”