The Israeli lunar descent module, originally built for the competition, was already completed and ready to launch in early 2019.
On December 17, at the Israeli Aerospace Industry Center, engineers installed the final, symbolic element of the SpaceIL spacecraft: a digital “time capsule” consisting of three discs containing information about the mission and Israel. The 600kg boarding unit is now ready to be sent to Cape Canaveral, Florida, for launch.
Installing the disks in the spacecraft indicates that the spacecraft is ready to fly in a few weeks.
-Ido Antebi, executive director of SpaceIL, in a statement
The landing module, recently named Beresheet, a Jewish equivalent of the word “Genesis”, will soon be sent to Florida, where it will be launched in early 2019 as a secondary payload on the SpaceX Falcon 9 mission, whose main payload will be the PSN-6 communications satellite. The launch is scheduled for mid-February.
After entering the transition orbit, the landing module will use its own engine for the flight to the Moon. The spacecraft will land approximately two months after launch. If successful, this will be the first non-state spacecraft to land on the moon.
SpaceIL originally developed a landing module to compete for the now-defunct Google Lunar X prize. The search company offered $20 million for the first place to a private team who landed a spacecraft on the Moon, moved it at least 500 meters across the surface, and also made snapshots and collect other data.
SpaceIL completes Lunar Lander for launch in February
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