An artist's illustration of the Israeli lunar lander Beresheet over the moon ahead of its planned landing on April 11, 2019. A Crashed Israeli Lunar Lander Spilled Tardigrades on the Moon. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Israeli-owned Amos-17 commercial communications satellite, lifts off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Aug. 6, 2019. SpaceIL is a non-profit organization established in 2010 with the aim of landing the first Israeli spacecraft on the Moon. SpaceIL, an Israeli nonprofit, bought space for its 1,300-pound Beresheet moon lander on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
Its launch is scheduled for Thursday. Hey, Space Coast! The organization was founded by three young engineers: Yariv Bash, Kfir Damari and Yonatan Winetraub who answered the international challenge presented by Google Lunar XPRIZE. An Israeli spacecraft is attempting the first ever privately-funded moon landing after it hitched a ride aboard a SpaceX rocket. Israel's Beresheet spacecraft crashed during its historic moon landing attempt. The craft suffered an engine failure during its descent to the lunar surface. A communications satellite … CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — An Israeli spacecraft rocketed toward the moon for the country’s first attempted lunar landing, following a launch Thursday night by SpaceX. SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch: What you need to know about Israel's lunar lander. Israel's first moon lander came up just short in its historic touchdown bid this afternoon (April 11). Shavit (Hebrew: "comet" – שביט) is a small lift launch vehicle produced by Israel from 1982 onwards, to launch satellites into orbit.It was first launched on September 19, 1988 (carrying an Ofeq satellite payload), making Israel the eighth nation to have an orbital launch capability after the USSR, United States, France, Japan, People’s Republic of China, United Kingdom, and India.