SpaceIL Beresheet Launched Friday By SpaceX

The first private lunar lander has been launched on its mission to the Moon. "Beresheet", a spacecraft created by the non-profit group SpaceIL and a previous finalist for the Google Lunar XPrize, was boosted into space Friday by SpaceX atop a Falcon 9 rocket.

It if successfully reaches the moon, Israel will join a small group of nations that has successfully landed a spacecraft on the moon; the United States, China and the former Soviet Union.

Engadget reports that Beresheet was the most developed of the private lunar landers competing for the XPrize when the deadline passed. But that didn't stop the group from completing its mission to launch the spacecraft. They simply won't win the $20 million prize even if they are able to complete the requirements of the contest.

Those parameters are the ability to drive a rover up to 1,640 feet (500 meters) on the lunar surface and transmit HD video images back to Earth.

Beresheet will spend the next couple of months in orbit around the Earth before letting the gravity of the Moon to pull it into a lunar orbit. If all goes according to plan, it will land on the northern hemisphere of the Moon in April.

"Congratulations to SpaceIL and the Israel Space Agency. This is a historic step for all nations and commercial space as we look to extend our collaborations beyond low-Earth orbit and on to the Moon," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement.

"In July, I was in Israel and was very impressed with their commitment to expanding their role in the world's space community. As we better understand Israel's capabilities and the innovative work of their private industry, we know they'll be an even stronger international partner in the future, one vital to the success of extending commercial space to the Moon and eventually on to Mars and beyond. There are terrific opportunities awaiting Israel and all of us in advancing the space frontier."

The Falcon 9 also carried the Nusantara Satu communications satellite, built for Indonesian satellite operator PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN) on the launch. That spacecraft is successfully performing post-launch maneuvers according to plan, the company said in a news release).

(Image provided by SpaceIL)

FMI: www.spaceil.com, Source report