The first privately funded mission to the Moon has crashed on the lunar surface, in a blow to what had been hoped would have been a landmark moment for space exploration.
The Israeli spacecraft Beresheet, named after the Hebrew for “in the beginning”, was a joint project between SpaceIL, a privately funded Israeli non-profit organisation, and Israel Aerospace Industries.
It set off for the moon in late February but crashed on the lunar surface after the apparent failure of its main engine.
“We didn’t make it, but we definitely tried,” said project originator and major backer Morris Kahn. “I think that the achievement of getting to where we got is really tremendous, I think we can be proud”
Newly re-elected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, watching from the control room near Tel Aviv, said: “If at first you don’t succeed, you try again”.
Israel had hoped to become the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the Moon. So far, only government space agencies from the former Soviet Union, the US and China have achieved this.