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The aerospace company, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the eagerly awaited launch of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday because of adverse meteorological conditions at the Florida launch site.

Mission Postponement Causes

Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground led to initial delays, followed by thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window closed, leaving mission controllers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.

Competition between Bezos' firm and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been heating up in recent months.

Rescheduled Attempt

To relieve airspace congestion during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is restricting private space launches from Monday.

After scrubbing the mission, the company announced late Sunday that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was aiming for a new try as early as Wednesday within a time slot of 2.50pm to 4.17pm EST.

Launch Goals

When it eventually launches, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will transport the US space agency's two Mars-bound probes to Mars, in an effort to examine the planet’s climate history with the eventual hope of sending people there.

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

Previous Flight

The rocket's first launch in January was marked as a achievement, as its cargo achieved orbit and successfully performed experiments.

But its main rocket section, which was meant to be recoverable, failed to make its touchdown on a platform in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during descent.

Recovery Efforts

In its second effort the launch provider will try once more to recover the first stage.

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

Industry Competition

The competing companies of tycoons Musk and Bezos are engaged in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as NASA opened up proposals for its planned moon mission, noting that SpaceX was lagging behind.

Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government pile pressure on NASA to accelerate its timeline to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface amid a race with China.

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

“More launches means more ideas in space,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It can’t be a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”