Hoping to end a string of delays, NASA will try to launch the space shuttle Endeavour today on a mission to deliver the last piece of Japan's Kibo laboratory to the International Space Station.

Launch is scheduled for 11.13 p.m. GMT from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA cancelled yesterday's launch attempt after a spate of lightning strikes near the shuttle's launch pad. Engineers spent the day checking the spaceship's electrical systems and other equipment to make sure there was no damage.

"We've seen nothing so far that indicates anything was actually affected by the lightning strikes," Mike Moses, the shuttle programme manager at the Kennedy Space Center, told reporters after yesterday's postponement.

"I fully expect this to be a positive story, but we have a lot of equipment that has to be checked and that's what takes time," he said.

Managers were scheduled to meet early today to review the engineers' findings. If the shuttle is cleared for flight, technicians will begin fueling the ship about two hours later.

Endeavour's primary cargo is a porch for Japan's $2.4 billion Kibo lab complex. The platform can be used to expose experiments to the open environment of space.

The porch is scheduled to be installed during the first of five spacewalks planned during Endeavour's 12-day stay at the outpost, a $100 billion project of 16 nations.

The space station has been under construction 360 km above Earth for more than a decade. It consists of nearly 735 cubic metres of pressurised space, about as much room as a typical four-bedroom house.

The shuttle also will be ferrying a new crewmember to the station. NASA astronaut Timothy Kopra will take over for Japan's Koichi Wakata, who has been aboard the station since March.

NASA had hoped to fly Endeavour last month, but the mission was rescheduled after hydrogen leaked from a vent line while the ship was being fueled for flight.