Israel’s Moon Selfie Could Be Worth -$99 Million

Israel’s $100 million moon landing venture could land it a $1 million prize. California-based non-profit the X Prize Foundation announced Thursday that it will hand out a $1 million award to Israeli non-profit SpaceIL if it will safely land its Beresheet spacecraft on the moon, as it is expected to do next month.

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Beresheet is a private venture by SpaceIL—founded in 2011 to compete in Google’s 10-year space race competition Lunar X Prize— in partnership with Israeli state-owned defense contractor Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI). The project cost around $100 million according to IAI statements.

The spacecraft is set to land on the moon on April 11 and take photographs of the landing site, including a selfie. Beresheet will measure the moon’s magnetic fields before succumbing to the sun’s heat soon after.

If successful, Beresheet could be the first non-state-owned spacecraft to reach the moon’s surface, making Israel the fourth country to land a vehicle on the moon after the U.S., Russia, and China.