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The aerospace company, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to delay the highly anticipated launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to adverse meteorological conditions at Cape Canaveral.

Mission Postponement Causes

Rainfall and a ground system issue led to initial delays, followed by thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch closed, leaving mission controllers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.

Rivalry between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been intensifying in the past few months.

Rescheduled Attempt

To ease traffic in the skies during the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting private space launches starting Monday.

Following the cancellation of the mission, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was targeting another attempt as soon as Wednesday within a time slot of afternoon hours EST.

Mission Objectives

Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will transport the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, to study 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 booster recovery, which would represent a major advancement for the firm if successful.

Previous Flight

New Glenn’s inaugural flight in the start of the year was considered a success, as its cargo reached space and successfully performed tests.

But its first-stage booster, which was designed as recoverable, failed to make its touchdown on a platform in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during descent.

Recovery Efforts

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

Thus far, only SpaceX has managed that feat.

Industry Competition

Rival firms of tycoons Bezos and Musk are locked in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as NASA began accepting proposals for its lunar exploration program, complaining that one company was lagging behind.

Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government pile pressure on NASA to accelerate its progress to send a crewed mission to the Moon amid a race with China.

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

“Additional missions means more ideas in space,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It can’t be a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”