JERUSALEM — Israel’s SpaceIL, a non-profit Israeli organization whose spacecraft crashed on the moon two years ago, said on Sunday that it had received $70 million in financing to try a second lunar landing.
The money will come from South African-Israeli billionaire Morris Kahn, French-Israeli billionaire Patrick Drahi, and South African philanthropist Martin Moshal, co-founder of venture capital company Entree Capital, according to SpaceIL.
In April 2019, the first “Beresheet,” or “Genesis,” spacecraft, manufactured by SpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industries, crashed into the moon minutes before impact, falling short of being the first privately financed lunar landing.
The next project, dubbed Beresheet 2, was originally announced in late 2020, and it aims to break new world records by landing twice on the moon and deploying the lightest lunar landers ever, each weighing 60 kg (132 pounds) without fuel.
The mission will consist of three spacecraft: an orbiter and two landers, with the goal of becoming just the second to safely land on the far side of the moon after China.
“Because the Beresheet project is my life’s goal, I chose to restart it. “I intend to do all in my power to return Israel to the moon, this time for a historic double landing,” said Kahn, who also serves as chairman of SpaceIL.