Beresheet 2 - SpaceIL Israeli Moon mission

[otter]

https://twitter.com/TeamSpaceIL/status/1336656554502868992

We are proud to announce that #Beresheet2 is going to head to the Moon in the first half of 2024! It will include two landers, each of which will carry out experiments on the surface of the Moon, and an orbiter that will stay for several years.

[zubenelgenubi: Beresheet thread here: https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=47217.0 .]

[otter]

https://twitter.com/inbarspace/status/1336639375376060423

Next Israeli Moon mission - Beresheet 2 -  will have an orbiter and 2 landers. overall mass 630 kg at launch, landing planned for 2024. (Image via @TeamSpaceIL). The spacecraft will be built by @ILAerospaceIAI

[edzieba]

That's a lot of engine on the orbiter. Are they intending to use it as an uncrasher (assembled vehicle de-orbits, landers release after some portion of the descent delta-V has been provided, then orbiter re-ascends to orbit)?

[Blackstar]

That is an unwise choice. They just dramatically increased the complexity of their mission. A better approach would be to look at their existing lander and add in redundancy and testing to make sure it works. If they want to do an orbiter, do that separately.

[Steven Pietrobon]

Great to see Israel trying again! It think it would have been much cheaper to just fix the design of the old lander though.

That's a lot of engine on the orbiter. Are they intending to use it as an uncrasher (assembled vehicle de-orbits, landers release after some portion of the descent delta-V has been provided, then orbiter re-ascends to orbit)?

I believe the orbiter performs trans Lunar injection and Lunar orbit insertion, carrying the two landers. Each lander then separates and lands on the Moon. I would imagine this would be done one lander at a time. If there's a software problem with the first lander, they can then fix that for the second lander.

[Phil Stooke]

The first lander had a magnetometer and a well-defined science mission.  Unfortunately it seems the magnetometer signal was swamped by the field of the spacecraft itself and didn't give good data during the orbital phase and descent. 

Has anyone seen anything about instruments or a science mission for the new landers?  They are smaller and there might not be much mass for payloads.  A laser retroreflector (also on the first mission) might be possible.

[aurora899]

From "The Jerusalem Post":

'Israel’s SpaceIL is back on track to launch a second spacecraft to the moon in mid-2024 and the United Arab Emirates should join the initiative, the organization’s chairman Morris Kahn told the Global Investment Forum in Dubai on Wednesday.

“SpaceIL has decided to launch Beresheet 2,” the 91-year old philanthropist and entrepreneur said at the conference jointly organized by The Jerusalem Post and the Khaleej Times. Earlier this year the 2024 launch was canceled, but according to Kahn it will head to the moon’s orbit as scheduled.'

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/israel-and-the-uae-should-have-a-combined-space-program-morris-kahn-says-669871

[yg1968]

Israel's SpaceIL secures funds for new lunar mission

The nonprofit Israeli initiative whose spacecraft crashed on the moon two years ago says it has secured $70 million in funding to make a second attempt at a lunar landing

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/israels-spaceil-secures-funds-for-new-lunar-mission-spaceil-jerusalem-south-african-french-genesis-b1882159.html

[Phil Stooke]

Two small landers... and it seems one will be directed at a far side landing.  First I had heard of that.

[redliox]

Two small landers... and it seems one will be directed at a far side landing.  First I had heard of that.

That's good to hear.  Where was news that a far side landing was going to be attempted?  From either UAE or Israel that's slightly ambitious for a first landing; but I wanna get the details firstly.

[Steven Pietrobon]

They probably plan on having the first lander land on the near side. If that goes well, they can target the far side, but communications will be a problem, unless they plan on using the Chinese relay satellite.

[Phil Stooke]

They have their own orbiter, so depending on the orbit and where they land they may be able to do the relay themselves.   If they are not too deep into the far side they might make it work.

[aurora899]

From "The Jerusalem Post":

'Israel and the United Arab Emirates signed a historic deal regarding space missions, Ynet reported on Tuesday, which will include collaborating on the Israeli rocket ship “Beresheet 2” space project bound for the Moon.

As part of the agreement, the two nations will work together on data-based development and research from the Israeli-French satellite Venus, while students from the UAE will work with Israeli students on a new satellite tracking the Moon.

The Beresheet 2 is Israel's second attempt at launching a lunar mission. The first – named “Beresheet” after the first word in the Torah meaning "in the beginning" – was launched in 2019 with the goal of landing on the surface of the moon, making Israel just the fourth country on the planet to attempt a moon landing. SpaceIL, the company behind the Beresheet rocket ships, would have become the first private entity to reach the Moon, as well as the first Israeli mission to make lunar contact.'

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/uae-and-israel-to-collaborate-on-beresheet-2-space-mission-682514

[dbush]

Israel, UAE to collaborate on Beresheet 2 space mission

“After reaching a historic peace agreement with Israel just last year, the UAE will now have an opportunity to bring its space exploration program into the future.

Israel and the United Arab Emirates signed a historic deal regarding space missions, Ynet reported on Tuesday, which will include collaborating on the Israeli rocket ship “Beresheet 2” space project bound for the Moon.”

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/uae-and-israel-to-collaborate-on-beresheet-2-space-mission-682514

[zubenelgenubi]

Moderator:
Two Beresheet-2 threads merged.
One thread here in "Space Science Coverage," the other from "Other Launchers."

[su27k]

Beresheet 2 to include two landers and an orbiter

The company that built the first Israeli spacecraft to attempt to land on the moon is starting work on the second mission with a significantly different design.

<snip>

After some initial uncertainty about its future plans, SpaceIL is moving ahead with a Beresheet 2 mission, and will once again have IAI build the spacecraft. However, Beresheet 2 will be significantly different from its predecessor.

“SpaceIL came up with a very interesting idea: let’s land twice,” said Shlomi Sudri, vice president and general manager of the space division of IAI, in an interview. “We’ll develop an orbiter that will carry two small landers.”

[Yiosie]

Beresheet 2 is now scheduled for 2025:

Ramon.Space and Lulav Space Partner to Navigate Space IL’s Next Two Lunar Landings [dated Sept. 7]

Ramon.Space and Lulav Space announced today that the two companies are partnering to provide an advanced navigation solution for the Beresheet 2 lunar missions scheduled for 2025. The Beresheet 2 lunar missions are developed by SpaceIL, an Israeli organization for space development, with an aim to conduct a double landing on the Moon and continue in orbit for five years as a platform for science education activities.

According to the agreement, Lulav Space will implement its vision-based landing sensor algorithms on Ramon.Space’s radiation-hardened computing platform and unique in-house RC64, a machine learning, DSP processor. Ramon.Space’s technology effectively supports advanced computer vision algorithms such as those that are being developed by Lulav Space.

[aurora899]

From 'The Times of Israel':

Israel, nation that made desert bloom, now aims to grow plants on the moon

"Israeli scientists are planning to try growing a range of seeds into plants on the moon, in the most ambitious attempt yet at extraplanetary agriculture.

The project is the next frontier for a research institute located in the Negev Desert in Israel’s south, a region famously inhospitable to agriculture but which has nevertheless been made to bloom in populated areas.

The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research at the Sde Boker campus of the Ben Gurion University investigates how to grow food in such arid regions on Earth — and is now making its first foray into space.

Astronauts on the International Space Station grow plants, but agriculture elsewhere in space has so far been limited to a Chinese cotton seed that sprouted on the moon in 2019.

Ben Gurion researchers are working with universities in Australia and South Africa to prepare a tiny 2-kilogram greenhouse with a range of seeds and plants that will head to the moon in 2025. It will travel aboard Beresheet 2, the second attempt at an unmanned moon landing by the Israeli SpaceIL nonprofit."

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-nation-that-made-desert-bloom-now-aims-to-grow-plants-on-the-moon/

[koraldon]

That is an unwise choice. They just dramatically increased the complexity of their mission. A better approach would be to look at their existing lander and add in redundancy and testing to make sure it works. If they want to do an orbiter, do that separately.

Completely agree and tried to make the point to SpaceIL… but they preferred the “sexy” two lander solution even if it has low payload performance and high complexity…

[mn]

NASA, Israel Space Agency to cooperate on Beresheet 2 lunar mission

https://www.jpost.com/science/article-730297

FEBRUARY 1, 2023

The Israel Space Agency on Wednesday signed an agreement with NASA for full collaboration on the Beresheet 2 lunar mission