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Blue Origin, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the highly anticipated launch of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday due to unfavorable meteorological conditions at Cape Canaveral.

Launch Delay Reasons

Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground led to initial delays, then came thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch closed, leaving managers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.

Competition between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in the past few months.

Rescheduled Attempt

To ease traffic in the skies during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is restricting private space launches starting Monday.

Following the cancellation of the mission, the company announced late Sunday that, in coordination with the FAA, it was aiming for another attempt as early as midweek within a time slot of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.

Launch Goals

When it eventually launches, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will transport NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, to study the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of human exploration.

Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the firm if successful.

Earlier Mission

New Glenn’s inaugural flight in January was marked as a success, as its payload achieved orbit and completed tests.

But its first-stage booster, which was designed as recoverable, failed to make its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during descent.

Landing Attempts

For this new mission Blue Origin will try once more to recover the first stage.

Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that feat.

Industry Competition

Rival firms of tycoons Bezos and Musk are engaged in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as the space agency began accepting proposals for its lunar exploration program, complaining that SpaceX was lagging behind.

Donald Trump’s second term has involved the administration push the agency to accelerate its progress to launch astronauts to the Moon in competition against the Asian nation.

Increased competition between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to launch.”

“More launches means more ideas in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It can’t be a negative to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”