Israeli startup partners with Elon Musk's SpaceX to launch lunar lander
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine on Israeli startup SpaceIL partnering with SpaceX to launch the first private lunar lander to the Moon and China's lunar lander on the far side of the moon.
SpaceIL, a private Israeli startup, has partnered with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to launch a new lunar lander, potentially becoming the first privately funded mission to reach the moon.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstines told FOX Business’ Stuart Varney that NASA may benefit from the mission.
“We actually can put science experiments aboard the space craft. We can use our deep space network to communicate back home and get all kinds of data and information…. but we’re going to be able to do it for a fraction of the cost,” he said on Thursday.
The NASA administrator also stated that such space missions can become more common in the future.
“We are building a coalition of nations to return to the moon sustainably,”Bridenstines said, adding on, “This time when we go, we’re going to stay.”
The modern day space race has also seen China land a rover on the far side of the moon. On January 3, 2019, the China National Space Administration stated that they successfully landed the Chang'e 4 craft on the dark side of the moon.
“There is a lot of interest internationally on the moon,” Bridenstine said. “There’s a lot of resources on the moon.”
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Space IL’s lunar spacecraft Beresheet is set to launch at 3:45 a.m. Israeli time, making Israel the fourth country to land on the surface of the moon and the first to launch a commercial lunar lander.