Beresheet

Mission Profile

Beresheet was Israel's first lunar spacecraft, developed by the nonprofit SpaceIL in partnership with Israel Aerospace Industries and launched on 22 February 2019 as a secondary payload aboard a Falcon 9. The small 585 kg lander traveled to the Moon using a fuel-efficient but lengthy trajectory, making several Earth and lunar orbits before beginning its descent on 11 April 2019. A faulty command sequence reset a critical sensor during powered descent, causing engine shutdown and a hard impact on the lunar surface rather than a soft landing. Despite the failure, Beresheet made Israel the fourth nation to orbit the Moon and seventh to attempt a lunar landing, inspiring SpaceIL's Beresheet 2 follow-on mission.