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

Mission Postponement Causes

Precipitation and a technical problem on the ground caused early setbacks, then came cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window closed, forcing mission controllers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.

Competition between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been intensifying in recent months.

New Launch Window

To relieve airspace congestion during the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting private space launches starting the beginning of the week.

After scrubbing the launch, the company announced on Sunday evening that, in coordination with the regulatory body, it was aiming for a new try as early as midweek within a window of afternoon hours EST.

Launch Goals

Upon successful liftoff, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will carry NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to Mars, in an effort to study the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of human exploration.

The mission will also act as a key test of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the firm if accomplished.

Earlier Mission

New Glenn’s inaugural flight in the start of the year was marked as a achievement, as its cargo achieved orbit and successfully performed tests.

But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be recoverable, failed to make its landing on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during descent.

Landing Attempts

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

Until now, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that accomplishment.

Industry Competition

The competing companies of tycoons Musk and Bezos 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 lagging behind.

Donald Trump’s second term has seen the administration push the agency to accelerate its progress to send a crewed mission to the Moon amid a race with the Asian nation.

Increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “expand our options with regard to launch.”

“Additional missions means greater innovation in space,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It can’t be a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”