The commercial supply ship Dragon has arrived at the International Space Station after a shaky start.

Station astronauts used a Canadian robotics arm on Sunday morning to latch onto the supply ship.

The California-based SpaceX company had to struggle with the Dragon following Friday's launch from the Cape Canaveral Air Force station in Florida.

A clogged pressure line or stuck valve prevented the Dragon's thrusters from working, and it took flight controllers several hours to gain control and salvage the mission.

In the end, the Dragon arrived just a day late with its one-tonne load, which includes fresh fruit, new clothes and other supplies for the six men on board the space station.

Among other items on board: 640 seeds of a flowering weed used for research, mouse stem cells, trash bags, computer equipment, air purifiers, spacewalking tools and batteries.

"The Dragon is ours! Manoeuvring it now on Canadarm2 to a docking port, will open hatches once secure. Looking forward to new smells! Great!," Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield tweeted from the station.

The capsule will remain at the station for most of the month before returning to Earth with science samples. It is due to splash down in the Pacific on March 25.

SpaceX has a billion-dollar contract with NASA to keep the station stocked.

This mission is the Dragon's third visit to the ISS and the second commercial supply run to the station out of a planned series of 12.