High winds and bad weather are keeping a cargo supply spacecraft from launching and reaching the International Space Station.

This unmanned rocket is filled with 7,400 pounds of cargo for the crew of the orbiting space laboratory, which will also be the first U.S. cargo launch in months, but was foiled by dangerous gusts of wind Saturday from Cape Canaveral, Florida. To date, this is the third weather delay in a row this week.

Like Us on Facebook

Bill Cullen, who is the launch director for this United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and Orbital ATK Cygnus mission, called off the launch attempt some three hours before where technical issues moved the late afternoon launch into the latest possible window. High odds of excessive winds are prevalent, giving little reason to proceed onwards.

The next attempt which will be the fourth one is scheduled on Sunday afternoon at 4:44 P.M. EST, and even if the weather is expected to improve, the overall outlook is still 40 percent favorable.

NASA is highly anticipating for its commercial cargo supply to be in transit again as two suppliers are grounded from the launch accidents that led to explosions in 2014, and now, the space station is in need of restocking supplies such as food and water. 

For this particular cargo resupply run, shipper Orbital ATK will be using another private space company's rocket which is the Atlas V however Atlas is still vulnerable to the planet's extreme weather.

Apart from much needed food, Orbital's Cygnus cargo resupply vehicle also contains clothing and toiletries for six astronauts including spacewalking equipment and air supply tanks, along with scientific experiments. There will also be Christmas presents on board for the crew.

TagsUnited Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo resupply vehicle, cargo resupply mission ISS, ISS, International Space Station, cargo resupply launch delayed, NASA, bad weather delay supply launch space station, cargo spacecraft delay launch