Orbital ATK's cargo ship Cygnus, which was supposed to resupply the International Space Station (ISS), has been delayed further due to bad weather. The new launch time is set at 5:10 pm ET on 5 December.

The earlier launch attempt which was scheduled on 3 December and later on 4 December was rescheduled due to the rain and cloudy weather.

On Friday the launch was scheduled at 5:33 pm ET, but it was pushed to the end of the launch window, which is 30 minutes later. The rocket is unmanned.

"The winds were just a couple of knots too high, so we just didn't feel comfortable launching tonight," AP quoted Vernon Thorp of United Launch Alliance as saying.

AP also quoted NASA launch commentator Mike Curie as saying: "It appears that maybe Mother Nature has played tricks on us once again."

The ship carries 3,550 kg of supplies, like clothes, toiletries, spacewalking gear, air-supply tanks and science experiments.

The earlier attempt in 2014 by Orbital had blown up in flames while Elon Musk's SpaceX, the other commercial cargo ship in NASA contract, experienced failed to launch.

NASA prefers to stock materials up to six months in its ISS. However the two failed attempts have meant the stocks have dwindled to last only a few months.

The carrier is also supposed to lug equipment and samples meant to aid research in the orbital laboratory. The research is meant to docus on "advanced and automated data collection and in the behaviour of gases, liquids and burning textiles in micro-gravity".

A launch in March is planned by Orbital, and another in May. SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, has a January launch planned.

Russia, which lost a cargo ship earlier, has another planned near Christmas.