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The aerospace company, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the eagerly awaited launch of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday because of adverse meteorological factors at Cape Canaveral.

Launch Delay Reasons

Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground caused initial delays, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, forcing managers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.

Competition between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in the past few months.

Rescheduled Attempt

To ease airspace congestion amid the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting private space launches starting the beginning of the week.

Following the cancellation of the mission, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, in coordination with the FAA, it was aiming for a new try as early as Wednesday within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time.

Launch Goals

Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will transport the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft 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 serve as a key test of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would represent a major advancement for the firm if accomplished.

Previous Flight

The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was marked as a achievement, as its payload achieved orbit and successfully performed tests.

But its main rocket section, which was designed as recoverable, failed to make its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during descent.

Recovery Efforts

For this new mission Blue Origin will make another attempt to land the first stage.

Thus far, only SpaceX has managed that feat.

Space Race

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

The current administration has seen the government push NASA to speed up its progress to send a crewed mission to the Moon in competition against the Asian nation.

Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to launch.”

“Additional missions means more ideas in space,” an ex-agency official said. “It isn't a negative to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”