Aiming High: Israel Shoots for the Moon Again

Israeli spacecraft starts orbiting moon on maiden voyage
AFP

Private space company SpaceIL announced Sunday it had raised $70 million to send a second spacecraft to land on the moon, after its antecedent crash landed last year.

The total cost of the venture is estimated to be $100 million, the group said.

The mission, dubbed Beresheet 2, is set to launch in 2024 and plans to break several records in space history, SpaceIL said. It hopes to achieve the first double landing on the moon by two of the smallest probes ever launched.

An orbiter will deploy the two landers, one of which aims to land on the far side of the Moon – a feat only accomplished by China in the past.

The orbiter will remain above the moon for five years and educate students in space research around the world.

Shortly after Beresheet 1 crashed in April 2019, billionaire backer and SpaceIL chairman Morris Kahn, who funded most of the venture, announced plans for Beresheet 2.

Kahn said three elements motivated him to fund the project. The first was to bring Israel into the space age. The second was to encourage young people to become involved in the sciences. The third element was to make Israelis proud.

“This is an incredible accomplishment for all of us. It’s a uniquely Israeli project,” he told Breitbart News at the time.

Kahn called the Beresheet project his “life’s mission,” according to SpaceIL’s statement on Sunday.

“I plan to do everything that is within my power to take Israel back to the Moon, this time for a historic double landing. As an entrepreneur, I believe that one should constantly seek new challenges and even double the risk. Our upcoming new mission will position Israel once more as a global pioneer, this time in space,” he said.

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