IAI and German OHB will cooperate in a program of the European Space Agency for Moon Research

Israel Aerospace Industries and the German satellite company OHB will cooperate in a program of the European Space Agency for Moon Research. Within the framework of the same program, OHB will offer the space agency access services to the Moon through a lander developed and manufactured by IAI.
The spacecraft was built for Space IL and will be launched from Cape Canaveral in the US in a few weeks.
IAI has said that the spacecraft will land on the Moon various technologies that will test the feasibility of producing water and other raw materials, and will analyze the samples taken from the lunar soil, saying that "these technologies are necessary for the long-term, .
It is estimated that next year the European Space Agency (ESA) will decide which company will carry out the mission on the moon, and that IAI will produce the new spacecraft, which is estimated at several tens of millions of dollars. A significant foothold in space exploration. Today, the company is engaged, inter alia, in the development and manufacture of satellite and communications satellites.
OHB is considered the largest private satellite company in Germany and provides services to various organizations throughout Europe. If its proposal is accepted by the European Space Agency, it will serve as the main contractor for the project and will manage the development of the cargo and scientific instruments that will be installed on the lander itself, which will be manufactured as stated in IAI.
IAI's Space Station Manager Ofer Doron, who signed the cooperation agreement with the German company, said that in the next few years there will be a lot of activity in space exploration, in a manner that will raise the need for platforms that will lead equipment and the means required for these processes from Earth to the moon. , And there are many more risks but it is a step in a very important direction and we are all excited. This is an activity with very good business potential, and a lot thanks to the activities that were carried out in the framework of the development of spacecraft 'Genesis' of Space IL. "
"The moon exploration and exploration as a basis for finding opportunities in moon resources such as fuel, oxygen or water is the next step," said Marco Fuchs, CEO of OHB.
According to Fuchs, landing on the moon is still a technological challenge, and therefore OHB invests considerable resources in developing technologies related to the subject. This is done, inter alia, through the new cooperation with IAI.
"This is a certificate of honor for the Israeli space industry," said IAI's General Manager, Nimrod Shefer. "The technological knowledge acquired in the development of the Genesis spacecraft and the new cooperation enable us to be partners in the advanced research activities of the outside world."