Blue Origin Postpones New Glenn Rocket Launch Due to Weather: Mars Mission and Booster Recovery Attempt Rescheduled

Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket remains at Launch Complex 36 following a canceled launch due to weather conditions.

Jeff Bezos's space venture Blue Origin was compelled to delay the anticipated launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday because of unfavorable weather conditions.

The launch window of 88 minutes closed as the team faced initial delays from rain and ground system issues, followed by problematic cumulus cloud cover, leaving management with no choice but to reschedule the rocket's second planned mission.

This postponement comes during a period of heightened competition between Blue Origin and Elon Musk's SpaceX in the commercial space sector.

Starting Monday, the Federal Aviation Administration will be limiting commercial rocket launches to reduce airspace congestion during the US federal government shutdown.

Following the scrubbed launch attempt, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that they are coordinating with the FAA to schedule another launch opportunity as soon as Wednesday, within a window from 2:50pm to 4:17pm (1950-2117 GMT).

When it eventually takes flight, the 322-foot (98-meter) New Glenn rocket will carry NASA's ESCAPADE twin spacecraft to Mars, designed to study the Red Planet's climate history with an eye toward future human exploration.

This Blue Origin launch will also serve as a critical test of the company's booster recovery capability, which would represent a significant technical achievement if successful.

While New Glenn's first flight in January was considered successful with its payload reaching orbit and completing planned tests, the first-stage booster—designed to be reusable—failed to land on its designated Atlantic platform and was lost during descent.

In this second attempt, Blue Origin will again try to recover the booster stage, a feat that so far only SpaceX has accomplished.

The commercial space race between billionaires Musk and Bezos has intensified recently as NASA opened bidding for its planned Moon mission, with concerns surfacing that SpaceX was "behind schedule."

George Nield, a senior aerospace executive who promotes the commercial space industry and has previously flown with Blue Origin, told AFP that the stakes for New Glenn's eventual launch are considerable, noting it will indicate "how well they're doing and how much progress they've made."

As the Trump administration begins its second term in the White House, NASA faces increased pressure to accelerate plans for a crewed Moon mission amid growing competition with China.

Mason Peck, an aeronautics professor at Cornell University and former NASA chief technologist, suggested that increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could "expand our options with regard to launch."

"More launches means more ideas in space," Peck observed. "It can't be a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind."