Israel's SpaceIL says it won't try second moonshot
This Dec. 17, 2018 file photo shows the SpaceIL lunar module in a special "clean room" during a press tour of their facility near Tel Aviv, Israel. SpaceIL, the Israeli company that attempted but failed to put an unmanned craft on the moon earlier this year, says it will not try a second moonshot. The company issued a statement Tuesday, June 25, 2019 saying that its crash landing on the moon in April has been widely hailed as "an exceptional success" despite missing its mark. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)
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This Dec. 17, 2018 file photo shows the SpaceIL lunar module in a special "clean room" during a press tour of their facility near Tel Aviv, Israel. SpaceIL, the Israeli company that attempted but failed to put an unmanned craft on the moon earlier this year, says it will not try a second moonshot. The company issued a statement Tuesday, June 25, 2019 saying that its crash landing on the moon in April has been widely hailed as "an exceptional success" despite missing its mark. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)
SpaceIL, the Israeli company that attempted but failed to put an unmanned craft on the moon earlier this year, says it will not try a second moonshot.
The company issued a statement Tuesday saying its lunar mission in April has been widely hailed as "an exceptional success," despite crash landing on the moon. It says that "an attempt to repeat a trip to the moon is not enough of a challenge" and will instead search for a different mission.
The SpaceIL "Beresheet" spacecraft attempted to be the first privately funded lunar mission, but failed to make a controlled landing on the lunar surface. The company launched in 2011 and initially competed for Google's Lunar Xprize, a $20 million challenge for private companies to land on the moon.