Spacewatch: private Israeli mission on course for the moon

Beresheet spacecraft will attempt to land on the moon and measure its magnetic field

A privately funded mission is on course to orbit the moon on 4 April. All being well, the 150kg spacecraft will then attempt to land a week later.

An Israeli not-for-profit organisation, SpaceIL, owns the Beresheet craft, which was built by the space division of Israel Aerospace Industries, and launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 22 February.