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Beresheet 2
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Beresheet 2
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Beresheet 2
Websitewww.spaceil.com
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftBeresheet 2
Spacecraft typeLunar landers and orbiter
ManufacturerSpaceIL
Firefly Aerospace (lander)
Start of mission
Launch dateMission suspended. Launch was planned for 2025[1]

Beresheet 2 was a proposed private space mission intended to land two spacecraft on the Moon. Upon reaching the Moon, the spacecraft would split into three: an orbiter and two landers that would be released for landing at different locations on the Moon. The orbiter would continue to orbit the Moon on a long-term multi-year mission. This would be the first-ever dual-lander deployment mission, with the smallest landers to ever soft-land on the Moon.[1] It would have a budget of US$100 million, similar to that of Beresheet, and would include more international collaboration, with the United Arab Emirates and Italy among countries expressing interest.[2][3] The project was planned to include a substantial component of educational activities and an outreach program for the public in the partnering countries. As of 2025, the mission was suspended due to lack of funding.[4]

History

[edit]
Reuven Rivlin hosting the launch event of the Beresheet 2 project, December 2020. In the background is an Israeli artwork made of crushed basalt.

The mission was announced by the SpaceIL voluntary association, shortly after the conclusion of the first Beresheet mission in April 2019.[5] It was announced on 26 June 2019, that the mission will not target the Moon, and instead it will be to another undisclosed object.[6][7] On 25 November 2019, it was simultaneously announced that the Moon would indeed be the target of Beresheet 2, and that SpaceIL plans to send another lander to Mars.[8][9]

On 16 January 2020, SpaceIL announced that they have officially started to work on Beresheet 2, as they were given the first million-dollar funding for the spacecraft. On 5 February 2020, Shimon Sarid was appointed as CEO of SpaceIL. In this role, Sarid would lead the Beresheet 2 project.[10] In July 2020, engineer Yoav Heichal, former chief engineer of Better Place Ltd, has joined the program as a structural engineer. The program was officially launched by Israel's former president, Reuven Rivlin, on 9 December 2020 and announced that the Beresheet 2 Moon mission would launch in 2024, consisting of an orbiter and two landers.[11] SpacelL was leading the program with the support of the Israel Space Agency.[12]

In July 2021, the Beresheet 2 program raised 70 million dollars from a group of donors: the Patrick & Lina Drahi family foundation, Morris Kahn, and the Moshal Space Foundation.[13] At World Space Week in Dubai in October 2021, Israel and the UAE ministers of science and technology announced plans for cooperation on the mission.[14] In January 2025, Israel Space Agency and Italian Space Agency signed a memorandum of understanding for collaboration on the mission, but any joint budget for the mission had not been decided.[3]

In April 2025, SpaceIL suspended the work on the Beresheet 2 Moon mission after failing to secure funding.[4][15]

References

[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Beresheet 2

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
Beresheet 2 is a proposed private lunar mission led by the Israeli nonprofit organization , designed to deploy three —an orbiter and two landers—to the for dual soft landings and scientific investigations. Building on the experience from 's inaugural mission, which in 2019 became the first privately funded to orbit the but failed to achieve a soft landing due to a technical malfunction, Beresheet 2 incorporates enhanced and systems to enable precise surface operations. The mission's primary objectives include conducting geological surveys, mapping lunar terrain, analyzing composition, and testing technologies for future exploration, with experiments contributed by Israeli academic institutions. Development of Beresheet 2 began in late 2020, shortly after the original mission's crash, with initial plans targeting a launch in 2024 aboard a rocket. Key partnerships have bolstered the project, including collaboration with (IAI) for spacecraft construction, the for technical oversight, and international entities such as for mission support, the (DLR) for an advanced image-based navigation algorithm to identify craters during descent, and the UAE Space Agency for lander instruments. In January 2025, signed a cooperation agreement with the to integrate additional scientific payloads focused on lunar environment studies. Despite these advancements, the mission faced significant hurdles; in April 2025, suspended engineering development after failing to secure sufficient funding, placing the project on hold as of November 2025. This setback echoes broader challenges in private space ventures, though continues to seek renewed investment and partnerships to revive the effort.

Background

Origins from Beresheet 1

The Beresheet 1 mission, developed by the Israeli nonprofit , launched on February 22, 2019, as a secondary payload aboard a rocket from , alongside the primary Nusantara Satu communications satellite. The , weighing approximately 585 kilograms, embarked on a two-month journey involving a series of orbital maneuvers to reach the , marking Israel's first attempt at a lunar landing and the world's first privately funded mission to soft-land on the lunar surface. During the descent phase on April 11, 2019, Beresheet 1 encountered critical failures approximately 14 kilometers above the lunar surface in the region. An (IMU), responsible for providing attitude and orientation data, malfunctioned, leading to a loss of attitude control and triggering an automatic shutdown of the main engine to prevent potential damage. Ground controllers at SpaceIL's mission operations center responded by uplinking a manual command to reset the IMU, but this software instruction inadvertently initiated a that fully deactivated the engine, rendering restarts—attempted five to six times—unsuccessful. With the braking thrust lost, the lander accelerated uncontrollably, impacting the surface at over 500 km/h and resulting in a hard crash rather than the intended . In the post-mission analysis conducted by SpaceIL's engineering team, the primary issues were traced to a combination of hardware vulnerabilities in the IMU (including components) and software glitches in the command-handling protocols, which lacked sufficient for such a critical phase. The review highlighted that the unexpected IMU failure was unprecedented during the mission, exposing limitations in error recovery procedures and sensor reliability under high-stress conditions. These findings underscored the need for improved fault-tolerant systems in future designs to mitigate single-point failures in attitude control and . The crash prompted an immediate commitment to a successor mission, with announcing on April 13, 2019, the initiation of Beresheet 2 to address the lessons from the failure and achieve a successful lunar . However, in June 2019, announced that Beresheet 2 would not target the and would instead pursue a more significant challenge at an undisclosed location, amid funding concerns. This decision, driven by the organization's determination to build on the technological achievements despite the setback, was later reversed, with the project recommitted to lunar objectives by late 2020, directly influencing Beresheet 2's emphasis on enhanced software robustness and hardware safeguards.

Initial planning

Following the crash of the original lander in April 2019, announced the Beresheet 2 project on December 9, 2020, during an event hosted by Israeli President at his official residence. The initiative marked a more ambitious endeavor, featuring one orbiter and two landers designed to achieve dual landings at separate sites on the lunar surface. This configuration represented an upgrade from the single-lander approach of the first mission, aimed at enhancing mission reliability through redundancy—where the dual landers increase the probability of at least one successful touchdown—and enabling broader scientific coverage by targeting different lunar regions for experiments. The initial target was set for the first half of 2024, reflecting an aggressive timeline to build on the technological foundation established by Beresheet 1 while addressing its shortcomings, such as the main engine failure during descent. However, subsequent adjustments pushed the planned launch to 2025, allowing additional time for design refinements and securing partnerships. Early engineering support came from (IAI), which partnered with and the to provide expertise in spacecraft development, announced alongside the project launch. This collaboration leveraged IAI's prior role in the original mission to guide preliminary architecture decisions, focusing on a modular system where the orbiter would handle transit and orbit insertion before deploying the landers.

Development

Key milestones

In 2021, revealed detailed plans for the Beresheet 2 mission, outlining a multi-spacecraft consisting of an orbiter that would deploy two landers to separate lunar sites for scientific operations. This included an international call for experiments in , emphasizing the orbiter's role in long-term and the landers' surface investigations, alongside securing $70 million in to advance development. During 2022, key technological selections bolstered the mission's capabilities, including a July agreement with Maris-Tech to develop a video recording, streaming, and image processing solution for onboard Ultra-HD capture and AI acceleration. In September, Lulav Space and Ramon Space were selected to provide a vision-based suite powered by radiation-hardened , enabling precise hazard avoidance during descent. The year 2023 marked significant international advancements, with the (ISA) and announcing a collaboration agreement in February to support payload integration and scientific contributions for the mission. That same month, signed an agreement with the (DLR) to incorporate a navigation algorithm for enhanced lunar orbit and landing hazard detection. Early 2025 saw further progress with the January signing of a cooperation agreement between , ISA, and the (ASI), facilitating joint scientific experiments on lunar mapping, soil analysis, and technology demonstrations. This pact built on prior collaborations, aiming to enhance the mission's payload for the planned dual landings.

Partnerships and collaborations

serves as the lead for the Beresheet 2 mission, overseeing the overall development and integration of the components. (IAI) collaborates closely with , providing expertise in propulsion systems and structural engineering to enhance the mission's reliability and performance. In February 2023, the (ISA) and issued a joint statement of intent to collaborate on Beresheet 2, focusing on technology demonstrations and the inclusion of potential NASA payloads to advance shared lunar exploration goals. This partnership builds on previous U.S.-Israel space cooperation and aims to support autonomous landing technologies. The (ASI) signed a with the ISA on January 28, 2025, during the Ilan Ramon International Space Conference, to conduct joint experiments on lunar mapping, soil analysis, and environmental phenomena aboard the spacecraft. This agreement emphasizes collaborative research in landing sensors, navigation, and control systems to contribute to the mission's scientific objectives. Germany's contributions come through the (DLR), which partnered with to provide an advanced for the spacecraft's autonomous lunar . This analyzes surface images to identify craters and match them against an onboard database, enabling precise descent and hazard avoidance during the mission's double . In the , Maris-Tech supplies onboard video systems to capture and transmit high-definition footage from the lunar surface, enhancing the mission's educational and outreach components. Additionally, Lulav Space develops vision-based sensor s for , utilizing techniques such as simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) and hazard detection to ensure safe touchdowns without relying on heavier or systems.

Funding and challenges

SpaceIL established an initial funding goal of $100 million for the Beresheet 2 mission, with efforts to secure approximately half from international partners, including explorations of collaboration with the that were discussed but not finalized. The organization raised $70 million from a group of entrepreneur-philanthropists by mid-2021, leaving a shortfall that necessitated additional sources. To bridge the gap, SpaceIL pursued philanthropic donations akin to crowdfunding alongside government backing from the Israel Space Agency (ISA), which provided approximately $5.6 million in support. However, persistent funding shortfalls, exacerbated by the withdrawal of major donors who had committed $45 million by 2023, resulted in significant delays to the project timeline. In April 2025, announced the suspension of engineering development for Beresheet 2 after failing to meet the necessary fundraising deadline, shifting focus temporarily to educational initiatives while halting substantive progress. These financial obstacles directly impacted key milestones, postponing planned advancements in spacecraft assembly and testing. As of November 2025, SpaceIL continues efforts to revive the mission through new partnerships and alternative funding sources, amid ongoing challenges from economic pressures and geopolitical events that have complicated donor engagement.

Mission design

Spacecraft components

The Beresheet 2 spacecraft architecture integrates an orbiter with two landers into a unified system for launch and transit to the Moon. The orbiter acts as the central carrier spacecraft, designed to achieve insertion, sequentially deploy the landers toward their target sites, and remain in orbit to perform ongoing observations of the lunar surface. Lander 1 serves as the primary vehicle for the core surface mission, enabling a to support scientific experiments while incorporating enhanced capabilities derived from analyses of the Beresheet 1 mission's challenges. Lander 2 is targeted for a separate site to provide additional , and the landers share a similar core design, each with a of approximately 150 kg. The overall integration of these components forms a compact stack suitable for rideshare launch opportunities, with the orbiter managing deployment mechanisms and communication relays during the landers' descent phases. Each lander includes provisions for instruments to measure lunar environmental conditions, though specific configurations align with broader scientific objectives. The designs are proposed as of the project's development phase.

Technical specifications

The incorporates an upgraded designed to enhance reliability following the main engine shutdown that caused the Beresheet 1 crash during descent. Complementing this, the landers employ cold-gas thrusters for precise attitude control and maneuvering during flight and landing phases. Navigation for the mission relies on advanced autonomous s to ensure accurate lunar approach and touchdown. A terrain-relative algorithm, developed by the (DLR), processes onboard camera images to identify surface craters and match them against a preloaded database, providing GPS-like positioning without ground intervention. The power subsystem is engineered for sustained operations in the lunar environment, drawing from body-mounted solar panels and lithium-ion batteries to provide capacity during orbital eclipses or shadowed periods on the lunar surface, ensuring uninterrupted functionality for , , and communication systems. Communication architecture supports data relay between the landers, orbiter, and Earth-based stations. An S-band handles , command uplink, and tracking signals via the Deep Space Network, while the orbiter's high-gain antenna facilitates direct high-rate data transmission to ground stations during favorable geometry.

Scientific objectives

Primary goals

The primary goals of the Beresheet 2 mission center on achieving the first successful Israeli soft landings on the through a dual-redundancy approach, utilizing two independent landers deployed from a single to enhance reliability following the failure of the original mission. This configuration aims to demonstrate robust lunar landing capabilities, with the landers targeting separate sites on the lunar surface to mitigate risks associated with single-point failures during descent and touchdown. A key objective is to prove the commercial viability of private lunar missions by employing a cost-effective design that builds on the original Beresheet's , with an estimated total mission cost of approximately $100 million for the orbiter and dual landers, significantly lower than many government-led endeavors. This approach underscores SpaceIL's role as a nonprofit yet commercially oriented entity, leveraging partnerships and innovative engineering to make deep-space exploration accessible to non-state actors. The mission seeks to advance lunar science by collecting surface and orbital data on the Moon's and environment, including composition , topographic mapping, and investigations into physical phenomena such as and . An accompanying orbiter, designed to remain in for about five years, will facilitate long-term observations and relay data from the landers, enabling comprehensive studies of regional variations in the lunar and atmosphere. Technological demonstrations form a core pillar, focusing on autonomous hazard avoidance during via advanced onboard sensors for terrain relative and real-time obstacle detection, as well as inter-spacecraft communication systems to ensure coordinated operations between the orbiter and landers. These capabilities aim to refine technologies for future missions, including precise guidance, control, and data exchange in the challenging lunar environment.

Payload instruments

The Beresheet 2 landers feature a developed in collaboration with the , building on the instrument from the original mission to measure and map local magnetic field variations on the lunar surface. This fluxgate aims to provide on the Moon's geological history and formation processes by detecting regional and local magnetic anomalies during surface operations. For surface imaging and navigation, the landers are equipped with a vision-based sensor suite including stereo cameras supplied by Lulav Space, integrated with radiation-hardened processing from Ramon.Space. These cameras enable real-time stereo photogrammetry for hazard detection, , and high-resolution imaging of the landing site and surrounding terrain to support scientific analysis of lunar morphology. In partnership with the (ASI), the landers will include additional scientific payloads focused on lunar environment studies, contributing to experiments on mapping and exploration of the lunar subsurface. The orbiter carries a system based on the Jupiter-Space platform from Maris-Tech, which manages camera operations, video streaming, and image processing for comprehensive lunar surface mapping over its planned multi-year mission. This setup supports the acquisition of data across multiple wavelengths to identify distributions and geological features from . As a cultural payload, Beresheet 2 includes a containing a of human knowledge, art, and heritage, serving as an archival record etched for long-term preservation on the . Note: The above objectives and payloads are for the proposed Beresheet 2 mission, which was suspended in 2025 due to funding challenges.

Planned operations

Launch and trajectory

Development of Beresheet 2 was suspended in April 2025 due to insufficient , placing the mission on hold as of November 2025 with no confirmed launch schedule. Prior plans called for launch as a rideshare aboard a rocket from in , with an initial target of 2024 delayed to mid-2025 due to and development challenges. Following separation from the Falcon 9's second stage, the integrated spacecraft stack—comprising the orbiter and two landers—would enter a highly elliptical , from which a series of maneuvers would gradually raise the apogee toward . This trajectory, optimized for fuel efficiency given the mission's mass constraints and rideshare deployment limitations, would involve multiple Earth-relative orbits before the final . Upon arrival, the would perform a lunar orbit insertion burn to enter , enabling the orbiter to deploy the landers while conducting initial mapping and operations.

Landing and surface activities

The Beresheet 2 mission plans for the sequential deployment of two landers from its orbiter upon reaching , enabling targeted surface exploration at distinct geological sites. The orbiter would release the landers for descent and landing operations, allowing the orbiter to monitor activities and provide continuous orbital support for data . This approach facilitates efficient resource management. Landing sites for the landers were intended to capture diverse lunar geology for comparative analysis of composition, magnetic properties, and surface evolution across different terrains. During the descent phase for each lander, autonomous avoidance systems would scan for craters, boulders, and slopes using onboard cameras and altimeters to select safe spots, building on lessons from prior missions to minimize risks in uneven terrain. Once on the surface, each lander is designed for a nominal 2-week operational lifespan, powered by solar panels during the to activate instruments, conduct soil sampling via a or scoop for analysis, and perform in-situ measurements of , , and subsurface properties. Data collected, including high-resolution images and spectral data, would be relayed to the orbiting for storage and transmission back to , ensuring reliable communication even as the landers' direct line-of-sight varies; this relay architecture extends the mission's scientific reach while the landers focus on localized activities before entering dormancy at lunar sunset.

References

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  2. https://www.iai.co.il/launching-beresheet-2-project
  3. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/beresheet/
  4. https://www.space.gov.il/en/news-space/133843
  5. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-839676
  6. https://www.spaceil.com/call-for-proposals
  7. https://www.space.gov.il/en/news-space/134689
  8. https://www.ynetnews.com/health_science/article/rkuyuntayg
  9. https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/beresheet-2.htm
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  12. https://spacenews.com/spaceil-lander-enters-lunar-orbit/
  13. https://www.planetary.org/articles/software-command-doomed-beresheet
  14. https://www.timesofisrael.com/5-6-attempts-to-restart-israeli-moon-landers-engine-failed-investigation-finds/
  15. https://spacenews.com/spaceil-says-chain-of-events-led-to-crash-of-lunar-lander/
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  39. https://hayadan.com/beresheet-2-project-cancelled
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  47. https://www.space.com/israeli-moon-lander-beresheet-lunar-orbit-success.html
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