UPDATE: The launch scheduled for June 13 was cancelled because of cloudy skies, NASA announced. The space agency is now aiming for Friday, June 16, between 9:05 p.m. and 9:20 p.m.

The rocket launch at Wallops has been scrubbed because of cloudy skies. — NASA Wallops (@NASA_Wallops) June 14, 2017

Six previous attempts have been scrapped, but NASA will be trying once again to launch a rocket that will generate colorful artificial clouds in the sky over the Atlantic coast Tuesday night. (now postponed until Friday night)

If the launch goes off as planned, sometime between 9:04 p.m. and 9:19 p.m., the multi-colored clouds could be visible along the coastline from New York City down to North Carolina, NASA officials said. So sky watchers along the Jersey Shore have a shot at seeing the manmade light show.

The luminescent clouds are being released by NASA during a rocket launch from the Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia's eastern shore as the space agency tests a new system to support studies of the ionosphere, a layer of the earth's upper atmosphere.

During the test, NASA will fly a sounding rocket and 10 soft-drink-sized canisters will be deployed in the air, about 6 to 12 miles away from the rocket. The canisters will deploy blue-green and red vapor, forming artificial clouds that will allow scientists on the ground to track particle motions in the atmosphere.

This map shows the projected visibility of the artificial clouds, or vapor tracers, that will be produced during the NASA rocket launch on June 13. The vapor tracers may be visible from New York to North Carolina and westward to Charlottesville, Virginia. (NASA)

NASA has two ground stations -- one at Wallops in Virginia and one in Duck, N.C. -- where cameras are set up to view the clouds that will be created. The agency said clear skies are required at one of the two ground stations for this test, but clouds obscured the viewing area at both viewing sites for the latest launch attempt, Monday night.

Monday's attempt was the sixth one for this mission. Previous launch attempts were scrubbed because of a variety of issues, such as high winds, cloud cover, and boats in the hazard area, NASA said.

The agency plans to deploy the canisters about 4 to 5 minutes after the rocket is launched. The artificial clouds, also known as vapor tracers, allow scientists on the ground to visually track particle motions in space.

If you don't have a chance to go outside tonight, or if the skies in our region are cloudy, you can watch the rocket launch on a live video stream. Live coverage is scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday on the Wallops Ustream site. NASA also plans a Facebook Live session starting at 8:50 p.m. on its NASA's Wallops Flight Facility Facebook page.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @LensReality or like him on Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.