The launch of an Israeli lunar lander may be the first of many private missions to the Moon

On Thursday, a small Israeli-built spacecraft launched into orbit on one of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets — sparking the beginning of a two-month quest to touch down on the lunar surface. The lander, named Beresheet, will attempt to land on the Moon on April 11th, and if successful, it will be first privately funded vehicle and the first Israeli spacecraft to do so. But while Beresheet is unique in many ways, the lander is just one of many similar lunar spacecraft in development right now.

Up until now, only the United States, Russia, and China have had the money and technological knowhow to land hardware intact on the lunar surface. India hopes to join them with an upcoming Moon mission called Chandrayaan-2 in April.

But the Moon may no longer be such an exclusive destination. Private companies all over the world are also hoping to send landers to the lunar surface over the next decade. These ventures see entirely new business models made possible by the Moon. Some, like Pennsylvania-based Astrobotic and Japan-based ispace, want to become a lunar delivery-service, providing rides to researchers, and organizations that want to send scientific instruments and technologies to the Moon. Meanwhile, ispace and Florida-based Moon Express are also interested in harvesting the Moon’s resources, such as minerals or the water-ice thought to be lurking on the lunar surface.

Because of this, it’s possible we’ll see an explosion of lunar landings in the years ahead. But for this lunar renaissance to really get under way, Israel’s lander needs to make it to the Moon first. On Sunday, February 24th, Beresheet ignited its engine in space, a move that helped stretch its orbit around Earth. The plan is to continue doing maneuvers like that until Beresheet reaches the distance of the Moon and then enters lunar orbit. However, just before a second planned engine ignition on Monday night, Beresheet’s computer reset, canceling the maneuver. SpaceIL, the non-profit operating the lander, says the spacecraft’s systems are working fine, but that the mission team is analyzing the situation. For now, it’s unclear how this will affect the lander’s journey to the Moon.

Whether or not Beresheet successfully lands on the Moon, there will be many more private companies with lunar ambitions launching in the next few years. Check out our new Verge Science video above about this new race to the Moon.