Due to fuel temperature issues, SpaceX decided to postpone the launch of its private lunar rover Intuitive Machines. The Odysseus lunar lander is scheduled to launch on February 14 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. However, the new start date has been set as Thursday, February 15.

The Odyssey lunar lander was developed by Intuitive Machines and runs on liquid methane. This fuel had to be loaded into the device before launch. But during preparations, SpaceX discovered an “incorrect methane temperature,” according to NASA.

The device will carry six NASA instruments and commercial cargo to the Moon. SpaceX and Intuitive Machines were given a three-day launch window from February 14-16 to reach the moon by February 22. In case of failure, the next launch attempt will be postponed until March.

The mission, called IM-1, will be the Intuitive Machines’ first attempt to reach the Moon. The object of the study is a crater near the south pole of the Moon. If successful, Odyssey would be the first private lunar probe since Apollo 17 in 1972.

Additionally, the IM-1 mission is the second mission under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, which uses specialized spacecraft to deliver scientific instruments to the Moon. In January of this year, another private company, Astrobotic, attempted to deliver the Peregrine lander to the moon, but a fuel leak foiled the attempt and the rover burned up in the atmosphere and returned to Earth.

The team of NASA scientists and Intuitive Machine experts hope that the mission will be successful and can tackle tasks that could not be completed in the previous Peregrine mission. The device carries new experimental technology, including cameras and other equipment, that will help NASA study the moon’s surface and environmental conditions with more precision.