| Website | www |
|---|---|
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Beresheet 2 |
| Spacecraft type | Lunar landers and orbiter |
| Manufacturer | SpaceIL Firefly Aerospace (lander) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | Mission suspended. Launch was planned for 2025[1] |
Beresheet2 is a proposedprivatespace mission intended to land twospacecraft on theMoon. 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 ofBeresheet, and would include more international collaboration, with theUnited Arab Emirates andItaly 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]
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The mission was announced by theSpaceILvoluntary association, shortly after the conclusion of the firstBeresheet 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 ofBeresheet 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 onBeresheet 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 theBeresheet 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 theBeresheet 2 Moon mission would launch in 2024, consisting of an orbiter and two landers.[11] SpacelL was leading the program with the support of theIsrael Space Agency.[12]
In July 2021, theBeresheet2 program raised 70 million dollars from a group of donors: the Patrick & Lina Drahi family foundation, Morris Kahn, and the Moshal Space Foundation.[13] AtWorld Space Week in Dubai in October 2021, Israel and theUAE ministers of science and technology announced plans for cooperation on the mission.[14] In January 2025,Israel Space Agency andItalian 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 has suspended the work on theBeresheet 2 Moon mission after failing to secure funding.[4][15]
