The nonprofit Israeli firm “SpaceIL” and publicly-traded “Israel Aerospace Industries” (IAI) have announced they will launch a lunar mission from Cape Canaveral, Florida, this December. The mission plans to land on the moon on Feb. 13, 2019.
“The lunar landing will culminate eight years of intensive collaboration between SpaceIL and IAI, and will make Israel the fourth country after the U.S., China and Russia to reach the moon”, says CPA. The Israeli lunar spacecraft will be the smallest to land on the moon: weighing only 1,322 pounds.
Approximately $88 million has been invested in the spacecraft’s development and construction, mostly from private donors, headed by SpaceIL President Morris Kahn.
Although this is a historic national achievement, it is technically a private initiative by the three SpaceIL founders – Yariv Bash, Kfir Damari and Yonatan Winetraub (AlmaLinks member) – “who strived to fulfill the dream of reaching the moon, and registered for the challenging Google Lunar XPRIZE competition”.