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The project began in 2011, at which point 32 teams were in competition for the Lunar XPrize. SpaceIL became the first team to secure a launch contract in October 2015. The agreement with Spaceflight Industries reserved a ride aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as one of the multiple secondary payloads.<\/p>\n
The primary payload for the flight will be the PSN-VI communications satellite for Indonesian satellite operator PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara. Some of the ride along payloads will be deployed into geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) along with PSN-VI. Others will be deployed from PSN-VI after the satellite maneuvers into its operational geostationary orbit (GEO). It is currently unclear into what orbit SpaceIL\u2019s spacecraft will be deployed.<\/p>\n
On March 30, 2017, the Lunar XPrize concluded with no winner when Google withdrew their sponsorship. The XPrize foundation is continuing the Lunar XPrize as a non-cash competition, with SpaceIL one of five finalist teams moving towards launch.<\/p>\n
The other four finalists include Cape Canaveral headquartered Moon Express, whose Lunar Scout mission is scheduled for launch in 2019 aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket. Japanese Team Hakuto, under management by lunar exploration company ispace, has reserved two rideshare flights aboard Falcon 9 for 2020 and 2021. The remaining finalists TeamIndus of India and the international Synergy Moon team have yet to secure launch contracts.<\/p>\n
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SpaceIL told NASASpaceflight.com today that construction was completed a few weeks ago, and the spacecraft is now in the final stages of environmental testing at Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) facilities.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/2018-10-10-231906.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe lander during processing \u2013 via SpaceIL<\/p>\n
The tests include simulating launch conditions, ensuring the spacecraft functions properly after disconnecting from the rocket and testing the durability of the lander\u2019s legs. This week began with testing in a dedicated thermal vacuum chamber that exposed the spacecraft to vacuum conditions and temperatures between -180 C and 70 C.<\/p>\n
Pre-launch tests of the spacecraft\u2019s components have been conducted at several locations around the world. Once testing is complete, the spacecraft will be shipped to Cape Canaveral to be processed one month ahead of launch. SpaceIL added to their update that \u201cthe launch company (SpaceX) informed them the mission will be postponed for a few weeks\u201d.<\/p>\n
After payload deployment, the spacecraft will repeatedly raise its apogee, orbiting Earth in increasingly elliptical orbits before inserting itself into lunar orbit. Once the spacecraft begins its deorbit burn, it will take 15 minutes to land on the surface of the moon. The mission will last 8 weeks from launch until landing.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/2018-10-10-232122.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe lander heads to the surface of the Moon \u2013 via SpaceIL<\/p>\n
At the 2018 International Astronautical Conference in Bremen, Germany, the Israel Space Agency (ISA) signed an agreement with NASA to cooperatively utilize SpaceIL\u2019s spacecraft.<\/p>\n
NASA is contributing a laser retro-reflector array to precisely locate the spacecraft on the lunar surface after landing, as well as the support of the Deep Space Network (DSN) for communication. NASA\u2019s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will attempt to take scientific measurements and images of the lander as it descends towards the lunar surface.<\/p>\n
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said \u201cinnovative partnerships like this are going to be essential as we go forward to the Moon and create new opportunities there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The moon landing was targeted for February 13, 2019 \u2013 which is no longer possible. SpaceIL told NASASpaceflight that the spacecraft must land during the Moon\u2019s daytime due to temperature requirements. Landing at the right point in the moon\u2019s orbit was also a factor is determining the targeted landing date.<\/p>\n
If successful, Israel will become the fourth country to land a spacecraft on Earth\u2019s natural satellite, after the Soviet Union, the United States, and China. India is also planning the robotic Chandrayaan-2 mission to the moon\u2019s surface next year.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/2018-10-10-232009.jpg\")
<\/p>\nA SpaceIL promotion render of their lander on the Moon.<\/p>\n
The first soft landing on the moon was the Soviet Union\u2019s Luna-9 mission in February 1966. Luna-9 carried radios and television cameras, as well as a radiation measuring instrument. The United States followed with Surveyor-1 in June 1966, carrying its own television camera.<\/p>\n
The most recent moon landing was China\u2019s Chang\u2019e-3 lander and Yutu rover in December 2013. Chang\u2019e-3 carried a telescope, an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) camera, panoramic cameras, and a soil probe. The Yutu rover could transmit video recorded with stereo cameras, perform soil analysis using spectrometers, and carried ground-penetrating radar.<\/p>\n
The SpaceIL lander will record video and take panoramic images. It will also measure the magnetic field on and above the moon\u2019s surface for research at the Weizmann Institute of Science. The data from the magnetometer will be shared with NASA and made available to the public through NASA\u2019s Planetary Data System. Commands will be sent to the spacecraft from IAI\u2019s MABAT Plant control room in Yehud.<\/p>\n
The spacecraft is 1.5 meters tall, 2 meters in diameter, and is just 585 kg fully fueled.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/2018-10-10-231949.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSpacecraft infographic via SpaceIL<\/p>\n
Approximately one third of the spacecraft\u2019s fuel will be used for landing. SpaceIL\u2019s spacecraft would be the smallest spacecraft to ever land on the moon.<\/p>\n
Long after the mission is complete, SpaceIL hopes that the next generation of engineers and scientists will be able to bring their spacecraft back to Earth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the history of spaceflight, three nations have successfully landed a spacecraft on the surface of the moon. Israel hopes to be the fourth, as SpaceIL prepares their robotic lander to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. SpaceIL noted late on Wednesday that the mission has been delayed \u2013 albeit by only a couple […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29467,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[479,625,2700,316],"class_list":["post-38265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-falcon-9","tag-moon","tag-spaceil","tag-spacex"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38265"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}