SpaceIL Will Try Again After Last Week's Failed Moon Landing
On Thursday, Israeli company SpaceIL attempted to become the first private company to land a spacecraft on the moon. Their lander, named Beresheet, came extremely close before a software glitch caused the main engine to shut off at the last minute. The spacecraft crashed into the moon’s surface-an unfortunate end to an ambitious mission.
Now, SpaceIL says they’re ready to try again. In an announcement on Twitter, SpaceIL board member Morris Kahn confirmed that the company was ready to try again with a new lander, named Beresheet Shtayim (which means 'two' in Hebrew).
The dream goes on! Morris Kahn just announced the launching of Beresheet 2.0 #Beresheet2.0 #IsraeltotheMoon pic.twitter.com/fHlo3jeQ4W
- Israel To The Moon (@TeamSpaceIL) April 13, 2019
The original Beresheet was nearly a decade in development, starting in 2011 and only launching in February. With most of the development work already completed, Beresheet 2 should take significantly less time.
Other than SpaceIL's stated intentions, the announcement is light on details. It’s unclear just how much time it will take to develop, how expensive it will be, and what improvements will help avoid another crash landing.
According to the announcement, the SpaceIL team began planning Beresheet 2 on Sunday, and remains confident that Israel can still reach the moon.
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