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Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to postpone the highly anticipated liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday due to unfavorable weather conditions at Cape Canaveral.

Mission Postponement Causes

Rainfall and a ground system issue caused early setbacks, followed by cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window closed, forcing mission controllers to push back the vehicle's upcoming flight.

Competition between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in the past few months.

New Launch Window

To ease airspace congestion during the US federal government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting private space launches from the beginning of the week.

After scrubbing the mission, Blue Origin said late Sunday that, working alongside the regulatory body, it was aiming for another attempt as early as midweek within a time slot of afternoon hours EST.

Launch Goals

When it eventually launches, the 322-foot New Glenn rocket will carry NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to Mars, in an effort to study the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of sending people there.

The mission will also act as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve reusable rocket landing, which would prove a major advancement for the company if accomplished.

Earlier Mission

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

But its main rocket section, which was designed as reusable, did not stick its landing on a ocean-based target in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during descent.

Landing Attempts

In its second effort the launch provider will make another attempt to land the booster stage.

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

Space Race

Rival firms of tycoons Musk and Bezos are locked in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as the space agency opened up proposals for its lunar exploration program, noting that SpaceX was falling behind schedule.

Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government pile pressure on NASA to speed up its progress to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface in competition against the Asian nation.

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

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