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Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, had to postpone the highly anticipated launch of its New Glenn rocket on the weekend due to adverse meteorological factors at the Florida launch site.

Mission Postponement Causes

Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground led to initial delays, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window ended, leaving mission controllers to reschedule the vehicle's upcoming flight.

Rivalry between Bezos' firm 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 Monday.

Following the cancellation of the mission, the company said late Sunday that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was targeting another attempt as early as Wednesday within a time slot of afternoon hours EST.

Launch Goals

When it eventually launches, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will transport the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, to study the Martian atmospheric past with the long-term goal of human exploration.

Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would represent a major advancement for the firm if accomplished.

Earlier Mission

The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was marked as a achievement, as its payload reached space and successfully performed tests.

But its main rocket section, which was designed as recoverable, did not stick its touchdown on a platform in the ocean, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.

Landing Attempts

For this new mission the launch provider will make another attempt to land the first stage.

Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.

Industry Competition

The competing companies of billionaires Musk and Bezos are locked in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as NASA opened up bids for its lunar exploration program, complaining that SpaceX was lagging behind.

Donald Trump’s second term has involved the administration push NASA to speed up its timeline to launch astronauts to the Moon amid a race with China.

More rivalry between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to launch.”

“Additional missions means greater innovation in orbit,” an ex-agency official said. “It isn't a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”