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Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to delay the highly anticipated launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday because of unfavorable meteorological conditions at Cape Canaveral.

Launch Delay Causes

Rainfall and a ground system issue led to initial delays, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, leaving mission controllers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.

Competition between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been heating up in recent months.

Rescheduled Attempt

To ease traffic in the skies during the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is restricting private space launches from Monday.

Following the cancellation of the mission, the company announced late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was targeting another attempt as soon as midweek within a time slot of afternoon hours EST.

Launch Goals

Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will carry NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to Mars, in an effort to examine the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of sending people there.

The mission will also act as a key test of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would prove a major advancement for the firm if accomplished.

Previous Flight

The rocket's first launch in January was considered a achievement, as its cargo achieved orbit and successfully performed tests.

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

Recovery Efforts

For this new mission Blue Origin will try once more to land the booster stage.

Thus far, only SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.

Industry Competition

Rival firms of tycoons Bezos and Musk are locked in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as NASA began accepting proposals for its planned moon mission, complaining that one company was lagging behind.

Donald Trump’s second term has involved the government pile pressure on the agency to accelerate its timeline to send a crewed mission 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 stated. “It can’t be a bad thing to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”