An Israeli group is raising a budget to land a nano-satellite on the moon as part of the Lunar Xprize competition

The members of the group presented as part of a panel that dealt with the field of space as part of the Globes Israel Business Conference * The goal: educational and moral - to place the Israeli flag on the moon and attract the youth to the sciences

Israeli pride, this is what the members of the spaceil group are planning to land a nano-satellite on the moon as part of the Google Lunar Xprize competition. The company seeks to raise about one hundred thousand dollars from sponsors in the first stage, in order to excite the youth and make them apply and study science.

Three of the entrepreneurs, Yariv Bash, Yonat Weintraub, and Kafir Demari, presented the project as part of a panel dealing with the Israeli space industry during the Globes newspaper's Israel Business Conference held yesterday (Monday) in Tel Aviv.

According to Bash, to date only two countries have landed on the moon in a soft landing, the Americans in manned and unmanned missions and the Russians in unmanned missions. Our intention is to be the third country to land on the moon in a soft way. As soon as you stick the Israeli flag on the moon the whole plan gets exposure. The youth love space, it's the thing they want to connect with. Our goal as a civil group is to connect the factors and make a change in the perception of Israel - both the self and how the world looks at Israel."

"About two years ago, the Google Lunar Express competition was opened, the goal being privately funded to bring a lander that would land on the moon, take pictures and send them over the radio. There are about 20 groups registered. First prize 20 million dollars, second prize 5 million. As an association we want to establish, the section is to put the Israeli flag on the moon, profits if we win will go towards nanotechnology in Israel SPACEIL is the only Israeli group that is in the process of registration, the registration closes at the end of the year, so apparently it will also be the only Israeli group.

According to him, a number of entities already support the project, including the Israel Space Agency, the aerospace industry, the Ramon Foundation, the Israel Association for Small Satellites "and in addition we will receive assistance from the robotics laboratory of Ben Gurion University and the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, which helps us in the business aspect, and Amitsur Rosenfeld, who helped us. Also, talks are taking place with Rafael, IAS and we hope to contact the other bodies - Elta, Alup and the Technion."

And Weintraub explains: "The idea is based on a CubeSat nano-satellite in a 30-centimeter-long, 10-centimeter-wide, and 10-centimeter-high configuration. The small size and low weight allow us to build a solution that is relatively easy to lift into space. The electronics of the satellite occupy a very small volume, no more than a cell phone, so the rest of the space will be devoted to fuel and propulsion systems. The arrival at the moon will be done first by flying to the GTO orbit - an intermediate orbit to which the communication satellites are raised, perhaps even as a ride on one of the next Amos satellites. From there the tool will perform a maneuver by itself. The landing will be carried out using a burner at the bottom of the vessel, steering, control. After landing, we perform a photo mission, turn on the main engine to perform a 500-meter reconnaissance, and we checked that this meets the conditions of the competition."

Demari: "We plan to carry out the launch by the end of 2012, when until then we will carry out planning and simulations and then development and integration. The total budget is about 5 million dollars, with most of the budget going to the second year - for the integration and the launch itself, and in the first phase we have a milestone of 100 thousand dollars that we need by the end of the year to start operating with full vigor."

Demari also surveyed the main competitors: out of the 20 teams, not all of them show the ability to reach the moon. Among the serious ones, TEAM FRED is a community-based open source project - it is difficult to manage. Another group, UROLUNA - a European academic project, but they do not yet have an explanation of the way they will reach the moon, as well as Odyssey Moon and Synergy Moon - civilian companies that plan projects of 100-150 million dollars designed to develop new technologies and sell them.

And Bash concludes: "Our goal is very focused - to put the Israeli flag on the moon. The goal is to use the ability to develop small satellites. Almost all capabilities are 45 minutes away from here, our advantage over other groups is that we don't develop new technologies. We have a motivated academic and engineering workforce - over 30 experts in fields such as communication, propulsion, business support who are already working on the project - part of the team, the Israeli spirit, determination and belief that we can accomplish the task. We are at a stage where we need $100 by the end of the year to start operations. We want the companies that will donate their time and money and be part of the team.

to the spaceil group website