Blue Origin, the space company owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced Wednesday to postpone again the planned launch of its New Glenn rocket -- this time over forecasted space weather.
The delay follows Sunday's launch scrub due to unfavorable weather conditions.
When it eventually lifts off, the 322-foot (98-meter) New Glenn rocket will have the task of sending US space agency NASA's ESCAPADE twin spacecraft to Mars, in a bid to study the Red Planet's climate history with the eventual hope of human exploration.
Blue Origin said Wednesday that NASA postponed the launch "until space weather conditions improve" over concerns that "highly elevated solar activity" could impact the spacecraft.
"New Glenn is ready to launch," Blue Origin said on X. "We are currently assessing opportunities to establish our next launch window based on forecasted space weather and range availability."
The sun recently has been spewing charged particles that are interacting with Earth's magnetic field: the Space Weather Prediction Center has issued a "severe" geomagnetic storm watch for Wednesday.
Closer to home, these space events have resulted in brilliant northern lights displays across the night sky in North America, including as far south as Texas.
Wednesday's launch was due to proceed amid intensifying competition between Blue Origin and Elon Musk's SpaceX.
The rival companies of billionaires Musk and Bezos are locked in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as NASA opened up bids for its planned Moon mission.
Blue Origin's launch is to serve as a key test of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would prove a technical breakthrough for the company if successful.
New Glenn's inaugural flight in January was marked as a success, as its payload achieved orbit and successfully performed tests.
But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be reusable, did not stick to its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during descent.
In its second effort Blue Origin will try once more to recover the booster stage. Thus far, only Musk's company SpaceX has managed that feat.
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