THE NEW SPACE RACE: NASA Postpones Upcoming Mars Mission, Citing Delays With Bezos’s Big Rocket.

“The decision was made to avoid significant cost, schedule, and technical challenges associated with potentially removing fuel from the spacecraft in the event of a launch delay, which could be caused by a number of factors,” NASA wrote in a statement.

EscaPADE will use two identical spacecraft to study how solar wind interacts with Mars’ magnetic environment, and learn how it drives the atmospheric escape of the Red Planet, according to NASA.

NASA decided not to fuel the two spacecraft in case New Glenn isn’t ready for launch, avoiding the costly task of removing the fuel. The launch of the EscaPADE mission has to take place when Earth and Mars are aligned. “This is an important mission for NASA, and it’s critical we have sufficient margin in our prelaunch work to ensure we are ready to fly a tight planetary window,” Bradley Smith, NASA’s launch services office director, said in a statement.

Blue Origin has been developing its New Glenn rocket for more than a decade, with its inaugural launch initially planned for 2020.

The next launch window opens in March, assuming New Glenn is finally ready by then.