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Blue Origin, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had 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 early setbacks, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch closed, leaving managers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.

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

Rescheduled Attempt

To relieve airspace congestion during the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is restricting private space launches starting Monday.

After scrubbing the launch, Blue Origin said on Sunday evening that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for a new try as soon as Wednesday within a window of afternoon hours EST.

Mission Objectives

When it eventually launches, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will carry the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, to study the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of human exploration.

Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a key test of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the company if successful.

Previous Flight

The rocket's first launch in the start of the year was marked as a achievement, as its payload achieved orbit and completed tests.

But its main rocket section, which was designed as reusable, failed to make its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during descent.

Recovery Efforts

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

Thus far, only SpaceX has managed that accomplishment.

Space Race

Rival firms of tycoons Bezos and Musk are engaged in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as NASA began accepting bids for its planned moon mission, noting that SpaceX was lagging behind.

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

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

“Additional missions means more ideas in space,” a former NASA chief technologist said. “It isn't a bad thing to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”