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Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the highly anticipated launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to adverse weather factors at Cape Canaveral.

Mission Postponement Causes

Rainfall and a ground system issue led to initial delays, then came thick clouds as the narrow time frame for launch closed, forcing mission controllers to push back 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 amid the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is restricting private space launches starting Monday.

Following the cancellation of the launch, the company announced late Sunday that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was targeting another attempt as early as midweek within a window of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.

Mission Objectives

When it eventually launches, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will transport the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to the Red Planet, in an effort to study the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of human exploration.

The mission will also act as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would prove a major advancement for the company if successful.

Previous Flight

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

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

Landing Attempts

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

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

Space Race

Rival firms of tycoons Bezos and Musk are locked in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as the space agency began accepting bids for its lunar exploration program, noting that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.

Donald Trump’s second term has involved the administration push the agency to speed up its progress to send a crewed mission to the Moon amid a race with China.

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

“Additional missions means greater innovation in orbit,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It isn't a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”