Orbital's Cygnus spacecraft will not meet at the International Space Station (ISS) any earlier than Saturday, Sept. 28, according to a NASA news release.

Orbital Sciences and NASA managers decided Monday to delay Cygnus's arrival at the ISS due to a data format mismatch. The spacecraft will not have to wait to make its approach, rendezvous, grapple and berthing now that a solution to the problem has been worked out.

NASA's Michael Hopkins and Russia's Federal Space Agency' (Roscosmos) Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy will launch Wednesday, Sept. 25 from Kazakhstan and arrive at the ISS ahead of Cygnus.

Orbital confirmed the software fix had been developed and tested. The glitch postponed the spacecraft's original rendezvous, which was set for Sunday, Sept. 22.

Cygnus launched Wednesday on an Antares rocket just before 11 a.m. from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The launch was delayed 24 hours due to poor weather conditions.

Like any other cargo spacecraft, Cygnus must complete a list of objectives before it approaches the dock or is captured and berthed. Cygnus already completed the first three of these objectives in its first two days of orbit. It first oriented its stability in space by displaying its control and position ability. Next it turned off its engine and operated in free drift and, thirdly, it conducted a demonstration abort maneuver.

As the spacecraft achieves these and more objectives, it will be accepted by those aboard the ISS and will begin its capturing/docking process.

Cygnus is the second commercial cargo ship to make the journey to the ISS. SpaceX, a company owned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, has already made two successful cargo trips to the ISS.

The crew aboard the ISS will have a day off before the start of a busy week, which will include welcoming the three new astronauts and receiving the Cygnus cargo carrier.