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Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the eagerly awaited liftoff of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday due to unfavorable weather conditions at Cape Canaveral.

Launch Delay Causes

Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground led to early setbacks, followed by thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window closed, forcing managers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.

Rivalry between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in recent months.

Rescheduled Attempt

To ease airspace congestion during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is limiting private space launches starting the beginning of the week.

Following the cancellation of the launch, the company said late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was targeting another attempt as soon as Wednesday within a time slot of afternoon hours Eastern Standard time.

Mission Objectives

Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will carry the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to Mars, to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of human exploration.

Blue Origin’s launch will also act as a key test of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would represent a technical breakthrough for the firm if accomplished.

Previous Flight

The rocket's first launch 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, did not stick its landing on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during descent.

Landing Attempts

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

Thus far, only SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.

Industry Competition

Rival firms of billionaires Musk and Bezos are locked in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as the space agency opened up proposals for its lunar exploration program, noting that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.

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

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

“Additional missions means more ideas in space,” an ex-agency official stated. “It can’t be a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even not in the lead.”