A US space launch scheduled to take place this evening has been cancelled.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s launch of an Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft was expected to be visible from Bermuda.

But shortly after the scheduled launch time, it was announced the launch attempt had been cancelled because of “off-nominal data from the ground support equipment”.

The Northrop Grumman rocket was expected to take off from Nasa’s Wallops base in Virginia and monitored live by the agency’s Bermuda tracking station on Cooper’s Island.

The mission was set up to deliver about 8,000lbs of research equipment, crew supplies and hardware to the International Space Station.

The space station is a laboratory designed to boost knowledge of engineering and physical sciences, biology, the earth, and the universe through research and technology demonstrations.

It also provides the foundation for future human space flight outside low-Earth orbit.