The head of the Israel Space Agency, Brigadier General Uri Oron, and the head of the Italian Space Agency, Professor Teodoro Valente, signed a historic memorandum of understanding today (Monday) for collaboration on SpaceIL's Beresheet 2 mission.
The event took place during the 20th Ilan Ramon International Space Conference held today in Tel Aviv, with the participation of senior figures from Israel's space industry and community.
The announcement said that developing cooperation between the countries is expected to significantly advance lunar research and enhance Israel and Italy's position at the forefront of global space exploration.
The Beresheet 2 mission is planned to achieve international accomplishments in deep space exploration, including a double landing on the Moon and conducting groundbreaking scientific experiments on and around the Moon.
Additionally, the mother spacecraft is set to orbit the Moon for a long-term mission of about 5 years and will serve as a platform for interactive scientific educational activities in Israel and worldwide through remote connectivity. It will also enable Israeli and Italian researchers to collaborate in various scientific and technological fields.
The Beresheet 2 mission builds on the rich experience gained from the Beresheet 1 mission, which was a groundbreaking Israeli attempt to land a spacecraft on the Moon. Although the first landing didn't succeed as planned, Beresheet 1 proved Israel's technological capabilities, SpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industries' abilities, and raised global awareness of Israeli innovation capabilities.
Both countries will jointly invest in various areas, including the planning and execution of all mission phases, from spacecraft launch to lunar arrival and managing scientific experiments, conducting various scientific experiments on the Moon's surface and its environment, including lunar mapping, soil research, and physical phenomena in the lunar environment, development of advanced space systems, such as landing sensors, communication systems, and navigation and control sensors, and promoting science and technology education among future generations and raising awareness about the importance of space exploration.
To formulate mission details, professional teams from both countries will meet in the coming weeks to advance the memorandum of understanding into a cooperation agreement between the parties. For this purpose, a joint scientific team will be established, including representatives from both agencies and SpaceIL, responsible for defining the mission's scientific priorities, planning scientific experiments, and analyzing results.
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