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Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to unfavorable weather factors at Cape Canaveral.

Mission Postponement Reasons

Rainfall and a ground system issue led to initial delays, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window ended, leaving mission controllers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.

Rivalry between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in recent months.

New Launch Window

To relieve airspace congestion amid the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting private space launches from the beginning of the week.

Following the cancellation of the mission, the company announced on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was aiming for another attempt as soon as midweek within a time slot of afternoon hours EST.

Launch Goals

Upon successful liftoff, 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 eventual hope of sending people there.

Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a crucial trial of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would represent a major advancement for the company if successful.

Previous Flight

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

But its main rocket section, which was designed as reusable, failed to make its touchdown on a platform in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during the return phase.

Recovery Efforts

In its second effort the launch provider will make another attempt to land the first stage.

Until now, only SpaceX has managed that feat.

Space Race

Rival firms of billionaires Bezos and Musk are engaged in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency opened up bids for its planned moon mission, complaining that one company was lagging behind.

The current administration has involved the government pile pressure on the agency to accelerate its timeline to launch astronauts to the lunar surface amid a race with the Asian nation.

More rivalry between the two firms could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”

“Additional missions means greater innovation in orbit,” an ex-agency official said. “It can’t be a negative to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”