With a $70 million donation secured, the SpaceIL team is set for round two of its moon landing mission. While its first attempt with the Beresheet spacecraft in 2019 was considered a failure due to a last-minute technical breakdown, its next version has the same aim with a slightly different path.
Still set to be the first private spacecraft to land on the moon, Beresheet 2 will have two mini landers which will be the smallest contraptions made to land and carry out a series of scientific experiments. The spacecraft will aim to orbit space for approximately five years, essentially serving as an unmanned space station. It will also be the second attempt to land on the dark side of the moon, the first being from China. If all goes according to plan, the next moon mission will launch in early 2024.
In collaboration with the Ministry of Science and the Israel Aerospace Industries, former President Reuven Rivlin enthusiastically noted the important role that science and research play, and that we’re living in the “golden age of Israeli space exploration…We realized how much more we have to learn, not only on distant planets and huge galaxies but here on our little Earth.”
