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Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the highly anticipated launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday because of adverse meteorological conditions at the Florida launch site.

Mission Postponement Causes

Rainfall and a technical problem on the ground led to initial delays, then came cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch ended, forcing mission controllers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.

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

New Launch Window

To ease traffic in the skies amid the US federal government shutdown, the aviation regulator is limiting private space launches from Monday.

After scrubbing the mission, Blue Origin announced late Sunday that, in coordination with the FAA, it was targeting a new try as soon as midweek within a time slot of afternoon hours EST.

Mission Objectives

When it eventually launches, the 98-meter New Glenn rocket will carry the US space agency's Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, in an effort to examine the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of human exploration.

The mission will also serve as a key test of its ability to perform reusable rocket landing, which would represent a major advancement for the company if successful.

Earlier Mission

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

But its first-stage booster, which was designed as reusable, did not stick its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during the return phase.

Landing Attempts

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

Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that feat.

Industry Competition

The competing companies of tycoons Musk and Bezos are locked in a commercial space race that has grown more intense lately, as NASA began accepting proposals for its planned moon mission, complaining that SpaceX was lagging behind.

Donald Trump’s second term has involved the government push NASA to accelerate its timeline to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface in competition against China.

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

“More launches means more ideas in space,” an ex-agency official stated. “It isn't a negative to have the competitor, even not in the lead.”