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Blue Origin, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the highly anticipated launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday because of adverse meteorological conditions at the Florida launch site.

Mission Postponement Causes

Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground caused early setbacks, followed by thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, leaving managers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.

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

New Launch Window

To relieve traffic in the skies during the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs from Monday.

Following the cancellation of the launch, Blue Origin said on Sunday evening that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was aiming for a new try as early as midweek within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time.

Launch Goals

When it eventually launches, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will transport NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, in an effort to study the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of sending people there.

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

Earlier Mission

New Glenn’s inaugural flight in the start of the year was considered a success, as its payload achieved orbit and successfully performed experiments.

But its main rocket section, which was meant to be recoverable, failed to make its touchdown on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.

Landing Attempts

In its second effort Blue Origin will try once more to recover the booster stage.

Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.

Space Race

Rival firms of billionaires Bezos and Musk are engaged in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as NASA began accepting bids for its planned moon mission, noting that one company was falling behind schedule.

The current administration has seen the government pile pressure on the agency to speed up its progress to launch astronauts to the Moon in competition against China.

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

“More launches means greater innovation in space,” an ex-agency official said. “It isn't a bad thing to have the competitor, even trailing behind.”