Israel ’s first moon lander has crashed after its engine malfunctioned during its descent to the lunar surface . Controllers failed to reset the craft ’s system to restart the engine in time . I think we can be proud.” The lander was built by Israel Aerospace Industries ( Israel ) for non - profit SpaceIL . IAI space division general manager Opher Doron said success would have made Israel the seventh country to build a rocket that orbited the moon and the fourth to land . The X Prize Foundation , which ran a competition for privately funded moon landings , offered to pay the $ 1 m prize for success to Israel for coming close .
Israel ’s first moon lander has crashed after its engine malfunctioned during its descent to the lunar surface . Controllers failed to reset the craft ’s system to restart the engine in time . The lander was built by Israel Aerospace Industries ( Israel ) for non - profit SpaceIL . IAI space division general manager Opher Doron said success would have made Israel the seventh country to build a rocket that orbited the moon and the fourth to land . The X Prize Foundation , which ran a competition for privately funded moon landings , offered to pay the $ 1 m prize for success to Israel for coming close .