Plan to land Israeli spacecraft on the moon

An Israeli organization said it hoped to become the first non-governmental entity to land a spaceship on the moon when it will attempt to launch a module later in the year.

SpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industries launch their unmanned vehicle in December, said the team at a press conference in an IAI center in the US. outside Tel Aviv.

If Israel succeeded, Israel would become the fourth country to land a craft on the moon. China.

SpaceIL Will Send Not Yet Appointed Module in the United States in November before launch

The landing craft of 585 kg (1,289 lb.) will be grafted on a SpaceX Falcon rocket to enter the Earth's orbit, then launch several times around the planet for reach the moon

The $ 95 million project, funded largely by South African-Israeli billionaire Morris Kahn and other donors, aims to land on the moon in February. 13.

Mr. Kahn said it would be "a tremendous success".

SpaceIL was founded in 2011 and competed with Google's Lunar Xprize, who challenged private companies to try to land an unmanned spacecraft on the moon. 13] But the $ 20 million competition was dropped by the tech giant early in the year when it became apparent that none of the five companies would meet the March deadline.

Despite the financial pitfalls of recent years The team is confident that the December launch will take place on time.

"This project will plunge the aerospace industry into space," said Kahn, the main donor and president of SpaceIL

. said an Israeli astronaut on the moon, but to entice a future generation of Israelis to pursue careers in math, science and engineering, said Joseph Weiss, president and CEO of IAI [19659015] producing a profusion of high-tech companies and attracting heavy international investment.

Much of the module's embedded computers were developed and produced locally.

The Lunar Mission The SpaceIL team hopes that the establishment of an Israeli module on the Moon could help maintain Israel's technological momentum for years to come.

"What we do" We try to replicate the Apollo effect in the United States, "Kahn told reporters, citing growing interest in science and engineering after the landing of the American Space Program on the Moon in 1969.