Israeli space mission wants to become fourth nation on the moon

Bosses behind the Israeli space effort have said they still intend to become only the fourth country to land a vehicle on the surface of the moon, despite the cancellation of a major project.

SpaceIL, the Israeli non-profit organisation among the five finalists for a prestigious £30 million lunar competition run by Google, said it still planned to press on with plans.

“We’re continuing to promote the project with full vigour to meet its goal of landing a Blue-and-White spacecraft on the Moon in 2018,” it said in a statement this week.

Google said the prize would “go unclaimed” as the five competing teams had all failed to meet a deadline. The teams – from Israel, India, Japan, the United States and an international effort – have been working on it since 2007.