Blue Origin Poised too Challenge SpaceX with Key NASA Mission Launch Attempt
CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA – Blue Origin, the space company founded by Jeff Bezos, is attempting a critical launch tonight between 8:50 p.m. and 10:17 p.m. (Paris time) that could considerably escalate its competition with Elon Musk’s SpaceX for dominance in space exploration. The mission, contracted by NASA, aims to send two ESCAPADE space probes – blue and Gold – to orbit Mars to study the planet’s climate history and prepare for potential human missions.
The launch was initially delayed Sunday due to rain and a technical issue at the Cape Canaveral, Florida launchpad. Strengthening cloud cover ultimately forced a postponement as the 88-minute launch window closed.
This second flight of the 98-meter-high New Glenn rocket represents a pivotal test for Blue Origin: demonstrating the capability to recover rocket propellants – a feat currently exclusive to SpaceX. The inaugural new Glenn flight in January successfully placed several dozen tons of equipment into orbit, but the company failed to recover the rocket’s first stage.
The commercial rivalry between Bezos and Musk is intensifying as NASA seeks contractors for its lunar missions, facing criticism regarding SpaceX’s timelines. “The course of the firing was to make it possible to measure ‘how well they are doing and the level of progress made,'” stated George Nield, a space industry executive and private astronaut who has flown with Blue Origin, prior to the postponement.
With renewed pressure from the administration following Donald Trump’s return to the White House to accelerate plans for a manned lunar mission, the stakes are high as the U.S. competes with China‘s ambitions to land on the Moon by 2030.
