A unmanned Russian spacecraft is spinning out of control and is believed to be plunging back to Earth after a failed mission to resupply the International Space Station.

"It has started descending. It has nowhere else to go," said an official, speaking anonymously to the AFP news agency.

"It is clear that absolutely uncontrollable reactions have begun."

The cargo ship is carrying a payload that includes three tons of fuel, water, food and oxygen for the astronauts stationed some 250 miles above Earth.

The Progress 59 spacecraft blasted off from Kazakhstan at about 8am Irish time on Tuesday.

It reached orbit and deployed solar panels, but ground control then lost contact and was unable to confirm if it was ready to steer toward the ISS.

NASA said the craft was now in an uncontrolled spin.

Four attempts to regain control as the craft hurtled over Russian airspace were unsuccessful and a back-up plan to dock with the ISS on Thursday has been scrapped.

It is thought the Progress 59 will burn up when it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere.

If that happens, it will be the second ISS resupply craft lost in the last six months following the spectacular launch explosion of a US Antares rocket in October.

NASA said the latest mission failure would not endanger the six crew living on the ISS.

The space station has enough food for four months and fuel for more than a year, according to NASA program manager Mike Suffredini.

The ISS is a multinational US$100bn project that currently hosts two Americans, one Italian, two Russians and an astronaut from Ukraine.

This camera shows the spacecraft spinning uncontrollably at Earth's orbit: