Blue Origin, the space company owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced on Sunday to postpone the anticipated launch of its New Glenn rocket due to unfavourable weather conditions.

Rain and a ground system issue caused delays that were followed by cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window closed, leaving mission managers with the only option of pushing back the rocket's planned second mission.

The launch had been due to proceed amid intensifying competition between Blue Origin and Elon Musk's SpaceX.

Rescheduling could prove challenging given the US government shutdown. To relieve airspace congestion, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting commercial rocket lift-offs starting on Monday.

Blue Origin had previously said it was seeking an exemption from the FAA.

When it eventually launches, the 98-metre New Glenn rocket has the task of sending 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's launch is to also 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 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 to do that. (AFP)