Israeli to launch first private spacecraft

YEHUD: An Israeli NGO says it will launch what it hopes will be the first private spacecraft to land on the moon this week.

SpaceIL and state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries told reporters yesterday that the landing craft, dubbed Beresheet, or Genesis, will ship from Florida in the US, where, propelled by a SpaceX Falcon rocket launch, it will commence its months-long voyage to the moon.

The launch is due to take place late on Thursday in US, early on Friday in Israel. It had originally been scheduled for last December.