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Blue Origin, owned by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, was forced to delay the eagerly awaited liftoff of its powerful launch vehicle on Sunday because of unfavorable meteorological factors at Cape Canaveral.

Mission Postponement Causes

Precipitation and a ground system issue led to early setbacks, then came cumulus cloud cover as the narrow time frame for launch closed, leaving managers to reschedule the rocket’s planned second mission.

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

New Launch Window

To ease airspace congestion during the government funding gap, the aviation regulator is limiting commercial rocket liftoffs from the beginning of the week.

Following the cancellation of the launch, the company 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 Eastern Standard time.

Launch Goals

When it eventually launches, the 322-foot tall launch vehicle will transport NASA’s two Mars-bound probes to Mars, to examine the Martian atmospheric past with the eventual hope of sending people there.

The mission will also serve 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 considered a success, as its cargo achieved orbit and completed experiments.

But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be recoverable, did not stick its touchdown on a platform in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.

Recovery Efforts

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

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

Industry Competition

The competing companies of billionaires Bezos and Musk are engaged in a private sector space competition that recently escalated, as the space agency opened up 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 Moon in competition against the Asian nation.

More rivalry between SpaceX and Blue Origin could “give us more choices with regard to liftoff.”

“Additional missions 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.”