SpaceIL - Lunar XPRIZE Team SpaceIL patch.
July 11, 2018
An Israeli spacecraft is expected to be sent to the moon in December using a SpaceX launcher.
Image above: The Israeli company SpaceIL did not win the "Google Lunar XPtice" but continued its project. Photo Credit: SpaceIL.
SpaceIL, an Israeli private company, announced on Tuesday that it plans to send an Israeli spacecraft to the moon for the first time in December. It will be launched with a rocket from SpaceX company of American entrepreneur Elon Musk.
The unmanned 585-kilogram vessel will land on the moon on February 13, 2019, if all goes according to plan, the organizers said at a press conference. His mission will include the study of lunar magnetic waves.
His first task will be to plant an Israeli flag on the moon, the organizers added. The project was launched as part of the "Google Lunar XPtice" award, which has invested $ 30 million to encourage scientists and private sector entrepreneurs to organize inexpensive missions around the moon.
Image above: A drawing of the SpaceIL lunar spacecraft. Image Credits: Google Lunar XPRIZE.
The Israeli company SpaceIL then decided to take part in the competition and joined forces with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), the largest Israeli aerospace group. The price of Google was finally not awarded, which did not stop the Israeli team to continue the project.
Funded by private funds, it is expected to cost $ 95 million, most of which will be paid by Israeli-born billionaire Morris Khan of South Africa. "It will show the way to the rest of the world" and prove that it is possible to send a spacecraft to the moon without an exorbitant cost, said IAI official Ofer Doron.
For more information about SpaceIL, visit: http://www.spaceil.com/mission/
Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: SpaceIL/ATS/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.
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