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Blue Origin, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday due to adverse weather factors at the Florida launch site.

Launch Delay Causes

Rainfall and a ground system issue 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 Bezos' firm 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 aviation regulator is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs from Monday.

Following the cancellation of the mission, the company announced on Sunday evening that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was aiming for a new try as early as midweek within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.

Launch Goals

When it eventually launches, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will transport the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, in an effort to examine the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of sending people there.

Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the firm if successful.

Earlier Mission

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

But its first-stage booster, which was designed as reusable, failed to make its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.

Recovery Efforts

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

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

Industry Competition

The competing companies of tycoons Musk and Bezos 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 SpaceX was falling behind schedule.

The current administration has seen the administration pile pressure on the agency to speed up its progress to send a crewed mission to the Moon in competition against the Asian nation.

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

“Additional missions means more ideas in space,” an ex-agency official stated. “It can’t be a negative to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”