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The aerospace company, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday because of unfavorable weather conditions at Cape Canaveral.

Launch Delay Reasons

Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground led to initial delays, then came cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch closed, forcing managers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.

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

Rescheduled Attempt

To ease airspace congestion amid the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting commercial rocket liftoffs starting the beginning of the week.

Following the cancellation of the mission, Blue Origin announced on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was targeting a new try as early as midweek within a time slot of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.

Launch Goals

Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will carry NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to the Red Planet, to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of sending people there.

The mission will also serve as a key test of its ability to perform booster recovery, which would prove a major advancement for the firm if accomplished.

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 recoverable, failed to make its touchdown on a platform in the ocean, and instead was lost during the return phase.

Recovery Efforts

For this new mission the launch provider will try once more to recover the booster stage.

Until now, only SpaceX has managed that feat.

Space Race

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

Donald Trump’s second term has involved the government push NASA to accelerate its timeline to launch astronauts to the lunar surface amid a race with China.

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

“More launches means more ideas in orbit,” an ex-agency official said. “It can’t be a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”