Blue Origin was set to launch its New Glenn rocket with a pair of Mars-bound satellites from the Space Coast on Sunday afternoon, but a series of issues stymied the attempt.

The heavy-lift rocket was aiming for its second ever liftoff, but was put in a weather hold for most of the launch window that ran from 2:45-4:13 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex 36.

Weather was clear at 3:45 p.m. but teams then announced they were working an issue on the pad with the ground systems, but with the countdown clock rolling in the hopes they could get the rocket off in the final minute of the window.

A late poll was go pending solution of that problem, but there was some sort of range violation by a cruise ship, with the Coast Guard trying to contact the vessel, although it was unclear which ship was in violation.

With just under five minutes left on the countdown clock, though, the launch was out on hold again, because of a violation of the cumulus cloud rule, according to Blue Origin.

One day earlier, teams were optimistic for the attempt.

“We just completed our launch readiness review this morning. We are go for launch across the board,” said Laura Maginnis, Blue Origin New Glenn vice president of mission management, on a Saturday media call.

The crowds were out in force Sunday on the beach to get a view of the southernmost active launch pad on the Cape.

“I just wanted to come here to just see what it was all about,” said Daniel Arthur Bashaw of Essex, Vermont. He and his wife Jennifer were planning to visit Kennedy Space Center as a pit stop before visiting family in Southwest Florida. “Been told from friends and people that have come to it that it’s a real nice spot to come visit.”

They found out about the launch and found their way to a parking space at Cherie Down Park in Cape Canaveral about 5 miles south of the launch pad.

“We’ve been here for how long? Three hours,” Jennifer said. “We just randomly pulled in and there was a spot, and then we decided we better stay.”

Parking spots were full up two hours before the opening of the launch window, with a line of eager rocket viewers queued up to take any spots that opened. When the skies opened up, some beachgoers gave up on any launch plans, but many more hoping for a launch remained.

The beach all the way up to Jetty Park was filled with thousands who braved squalls that put the launch into a hold.

Many were Blue Origin employees, but most also brought alternatives in case the rocket didn’t launch, walking their dogs, bringing the kids, toting surfboards or casting a fishing line into the surf.

“Wanted to watch the launch. Got to see the night launch last time,” said Jay Jacobs who was walking along the surf with his family who drove a short way from Viera.

Son Bradley, 11, had reserved praise for the first one he got to see.

“It was cool,” he said. “A little better than most rockets.”

Jay said he thought the beach was a great option to see it.

“My first rocket launch was in 2011; it was Launch Complex 14. It was a Delta 2. So that was the closest I’ve really ever been to a rocket. That was really cool. But this is a good viewing from the beach. A lot of the other ones, like SpaceX pads, are a lot further north. I’d say choose the beach. If you go Jetty Park, there’s a little bit of a hill there, so you can’t really see launch pad until it lifts off. But the beach here, the way it curves out to the east, you can see it pretty good on the pad and for liftoff and trajectory.”

A Monday launch attempt could still be possible with a window that opens at 2:40 p.m.

The payload is a pair of satellites built by fellow aerospace company Rocket Lab for NASA and the University of California Berkeley’s Space Science Laboratory for the mission named ESCAPADE, which stands for Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers. The twin spacecraft are dubbed Blue and Gold, and were originally aiming to launch in late 2024.

Because of the delay to this year, the relative proximity of Mars and Earth meant a change to the travel plans. Instead of heading directly to Mars, the two satellites will be headed to Lagrange Point 2, about 1 million miles away from Earth, where they will be able to sit until next year without much fuel use, before finally making the 11-month transit to the Red Planet.

Once they get there, they will orbit Mars and observe plasma and magnetic fields around the planet to help understand what processes strip atoms from Mars’ magnetosphere and upper atmosphere. That could help explain why Mars’ atmosphere is so thin, and how it may have evolved over time.

For New Glenn, it’s the first use of LC-36 since January. The mission’s first-stage booster, named Never Tell Me The Odds, a reference to Han Solo’s dialogue in “The Empire Strikes Back” before he attempts to successfully navigate an asteroid field.

The booster is aiming to land on the company’s ship Jacklyn, named after company founder Jeff Bezos’ mother, downrange in the Atlantic, a feat the first launch of New Glenn was not able to accomplish.

“Our number one objective is to deliver ESCAPADE safely and successfully on its way to (Lagrange Point 2) and then eventually on to Mars,” Maginnis said. “We also are planning — wanting to land our booster. If we don’t land the booster, that’s OK. We have several more vehicles in production. We’re excited to see how the mission plays out tomorrow.”

Space Launch Delta 45’s weather squadron forecasts a 75% chance for good conditions Monday.

Blue Origin’s New Glenn rockets are manufactured at nearby Merritt Island, then rolled over to LC-36, which underwent a multiyear, $1 billion dollar revamp. It held up well after the first launch, Maginnis said.

“The pad actually looked really good. We didn’t see any significant issues. We’ve got a great water suppression system out there, acoustic suppression system and overall facility looks good,” she said. “Everything was pretty smooth, so it wasn’t a significant amount of work to do there.”

She said the company plans to increase its launch rate in 2026, but didn’t say when the next launch would be.

“Looking forward to demonstrating that a key element of that, of course, it’ll be the turnaround of our GS-1 (the first stage) booster, as well as a number of other boosters that we’re bringing online,” she said. “So those will be supporting higher cadence in 2026 and beyond.”

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