Opher Doron, general manager of Israel Aerospace Industries' space division, speaks beside the SpaceIL lunar module, in a special "clean room" where the space craft is being developed, during a press tour of their facility near Tel Aviv, Israel, July 10, 2018. (ILAN BEN ZION / AP)
YEHUD, Israel - An Israeli non-profit group plans to land an unmanned spacecraft on the moon in February in the first landing of its kind since 2013.
Our spacecraft will be the smallest ever to land on the moon
Ido Anteby, Chief Executive, SpaceIL
The craft, which is shaped like a round table with four carbon fiber legs, is set to blast off in December from Florida's Cape Canaveral aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, said Ido Anteby, chief executive of the SpaceIL non-profit.
It aims to transmit pictures and videos back to earth over two days after it lands on Feb 13 as well as measuring magnetic fields.
READ MORE: China's visitors to the Moon
"Our spacecraft will be the smallest ever to land on the moon," said Anteby.
Since 1966, the United States and the former Soviet Union have put around 12 unmanned spacecraft on the moon using braking power to perform "soft" landings and China did so in 2013.
SpaceIL was founded in 2011 by a group of engineers with a budget of about US$90 million and they had to sacrifice size and operational capabilities for more efficient travel.
ALSO READ: China to launch Chang'e-5 lunar probe in 2019
The craft, unveiled on Tuesday at state-owned defense contractor Israel Aerospace Industries, stands about 1.5 meters high and weighs 585 kg. The spacecraft has four carbon fiber legs and fuel takes up two-thirds of its weight.
At 60,000 km above Earth the spacecraft will deploy. It will orbit Earth in expanding ellipses and, about two months later, cross into the moon's orbit. It will then slow and carry out a soft landing causing no damage to the craft.
"The landing is the most complicated part. The spot chosen is relatively flat and the spacecraft has eye contact with Earth for communication," Anteby said. "From the moment the spacecraft reaches the point that it begins the landing, it will handle it totally autonomously."
SpaceIL is backed mainly by private donors, including US casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and billionaire Morris Kahn who co-founded Amdocs, one of Israel's biggest high-tech companies.
