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U.S. cargo ship launch to International Space Station moves to Sunday: NASA

Xinhua, December 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

The launch of the Cygnus cargo ship to the International Space Station (ISS) has been rescheduled to Sunday due to bad weather, U.S. space agency NASA said Saturday.

The launching mission will be operated by the private U.S. space firm Orbital ATK.

"Saturday's attempt was called off because of high winds that were expected to violate launch criteria throughout the 30-minute launch window," NASA said in brief statement.

It's the third time for Orbital ATK to delay the cargo delivery mission. Thick clouds and high winds have forced NASA to scrap the first two launch attempts at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in the U.S. state of Florida Thursday and Friday.

Orbital ATK will try again Sunday at 4:44 p.m. EST (2144 GMT) with a 30-minute launch window. NASA said the weather forecast for Sunday will improve to a 40 percent chance of acceptable conditions at launch time.

Orbital ATK is one of the two commercial companies hired by NASA after the space shuttles were retired to fly cargo to the ISS.

Its third cargo mission was destroyed in a launch explosion in October last year. The other company, SpaceX, was recovering from a similar launch explosion in June this year as well.

This time, the Cygnus spacecraft will deliver about 3,500 kilograms of cargo, including food and Christmas gifts, to the ISS. Endit