SpaceIL is an Israeli non-profit organization founded in 2011 that aimed to land an unmanned spacecraft on the Moon. As a competitor in the Google Lunar X Prize, SpaceIL launched the Beresheet lander in 2019, which unfortunately crashed during its landing attempt, though it made Israel the seventh country to enter lunar orbit. While their Beresheet 2 mission is currently on hold due to funding issues, SpaceIL continues its educational initiatives and aims to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers. SpaceIL has partnered with organizations like Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and the Israel Space Agency (ISA).
All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
Thomas Zurbuchen planned to visit Israel later in 2019 to discuss potential future cooperation with SpaceIL.
SpaceIL planned comprehensive tests the week following 2019-04-12 to better understand the events that led to the failed landing.
The X Prize Foundation offered a $1,000,000 Moonshot Award to SpaceIL for a successful lunar landing and awarded SpaceIL the $1,000,000 after the landing attempt for coming close to the landing.
SpaceIL initially formed as a Google Lunar X Prize team seeking the $20,000,000 grand prize for the first privately developed spacecraft to land on the moon, travel at least 500 m, and return images and video.
The X Prize Foundation will award a $1,000,000 Moonshot Prize to SpaceIL if Beresheet successfully lands on the moon.
SpaceIL contracted with Israel Aerospace Industries to build the Beresheet lander.
Israel Aerospace Industries built the lander for SpaceIL and is studying other opportunities for using that lander system, including a partnership with German company OHB to study its use for European Space Agency missions.
SpaceIL’s Beresheet lander performed a one-minute burn of its main thruster at 8:30 a.m. Eastern on 2019-03-19, extending the apogee of its orbit around Earth to 405,0 m.
SpaceIL’s Beresheet lunar lander performed a maneuver on 2019-03-19 that put the lander on course to enter orbit around the Moon in April.
SpaceIL originally developed the Beresheet lander as a one-off project to compete for the Google Lunar X Prize and funded most of the $100,000,000 cost from philanthropic sources.
On 2019-02-24 SpaceIL performed a 30-second main thruster burn that increased Beresheet's Earth orbit perigee to 600 km.
SpaceIL’s Beresheet lunar lander launched on 2019-02-21 as a secondary payload on a SpaceX Falcon 9.
SpaceIL originally built the Beresheet lander for the Google Lunar X Prize and continued the project after the contest ended in March 2018 without a winner.
The Beresheet lunar lander developed by Israel’s SpaceIL will be released into geostationary transfer orbit and will gradually extend its orbit toward the moon over a two-month period.
Israel Aerospace Industries shipped the SpaceIL lander Beresheet earlier 2019-01 from Israel to Cape Canaveral for final preparations for launch.
Under the teaming agreement, Israel Aerospace Industries will offer a version of the lunar lander it built for SpaceIL for use on ESA missions.
SpaceIL completed a privately funded Israeli lunar lander originally built for a prize competition and prepared it for launch in early 2019.
Workers installed a digital time capsule consisting of three discs into the SpaceIL spacecraft during a 2018-12-17 ceremony at an Israel Aerospace Industries facility.
NASA signed an agreement with the Israel Space Agency on 2018-10-03 to offer support for the SpaceIL mission.
Spaceflight Industries arranged the launch of an Israeli lunar lander developed by SpaceIL as a secondary payload on a SpaceX Falcon 9 that will launch late 2018.