The head of the Israel Space Agency, Brig. Gen. (res.) Uri Oron, and the head of the Italian Space Agency, Prof. Teodoro Valenta, signed, on Monday (January 27), an historic memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the framework of SpaceIL's Beresheet 2 mission. The event took place during the 20th Ilan Ramon International Space Conference, which was held today in Tel Aviv, with the participation of senior members of the Israeli space industry and the space community. The growing cooperation between the two countries is expected to bring about a significant advance in exploration of the moon and the enhancement of the position of Israel and Italy at the forefront of global space.
The agreement between Israel and Italy marks an important milestone in international cooperation in the field of space. The Beresheet 2 mission, which is planned to record international achievements in the field of deep space, including a double landing on the moon and the conduct of groundbreaking scientific experiments on the moon and its surroundings. In addition, the mother spacecraft is planned to orbit the moon on a long-term mission of about 5 years and will serve as a platform for interactive, scientific, educational activities in Israel and overseas, by remote connection. It will also allow Israeli and Italian researchers to collaborate in a variety of scientific and technological fields.
The Beresheet 2 mission is based on the rich experience accumulated in the Beresheet 1 mission, which was a groundbreaking Israeli attempt to land a spacecraft on the moon. Although the first landing was not as successful as we planned, Beresheet 1 proved the technological capabilities of the State of Israel, and of SpaceIL, in cooperation with the Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI), and raised global awareness of Israel's innovation capabilities.
The new agreement between Israel and Italy opens the door to significant progress in lunar exploration. The two countries will jointly invest in a variety of areas, including:
- Joint mission management: Planning and executing all stages of the mission, starting with the launch of the spacecraft, reaching the moon and conducting scientific experiments.
- Advanced scientific research: Conducting a variety of scientific experiments on the moon’s surface and its surroundings, including charting the moon, studying the soil, and physical phenomena in the lunar environment.
- Development of innovative technologies: Development of advanced space systems, such as landing sensors, communications, and navigation and control sensors
- Science education: Promoting scientific and technological education among future generations and raising awareness of the importance of space exploration.
In order to formulate the details of the mission, in the coming weeks, teams of professionals from the two countries will meet in order to advance the details of the memorandum of understanding into a cooperation agreement between the parties. For this purpose, a joint scientific team will be established that will include representatives from the two agencies and from the SpaceIL association and will be responsible for defining the scientific priorities of the mission, planning scientific experiments, and analyzing the results.
The Director of the Israel Space Agency, Brig. Gen. (res.) Uri Oron: "We are proud of the emerging cooperation with the Italian Space Agency on a groundbreaking and inspiring mission like Beresheet 2. This is an expression of the depth of the relationship between the space agencies and the aspiration to continue advancing research and technology together with SpaceIL."
SpaceIL CEO Shimon Sarid welcomed the important development: "We welcome the cooperation that is being forged between the Israel Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency; it is an important milestone in Beresheet 2’s journey to the Moon. The connection between the two parties will be a force multiplier in promoting the Association’s vision for the advancement of science education in Israel and around the world."