WATCH: Israel’s spacecraft packed and ready for moon launch

“Beresheet” – the first word in the Book of Genesis, means “In the beginning.” It is also the name of an Israeli spacecraft ready to launch next month from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

SpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industries packed the spacecraft – approximately five feet tall and weighing 180 kilograms – into a special temperature-controlled, sterile shipping container last week. The process took several hours.

It was then transported in a cargo plane from Ben-Gurion International Airport to Orlando, Fla., ahead of the mid-February launch.

“After eight years of hard work, our dream has come true: We finally have a spacecraft,” Ido Anteby, CEO of non-profit SpaceIL, creator of the spacecraft, said. “Shipping the spacecraft to the United States is the first stage of a complicated and historic journey to the moon.

“This is the first of many exciting moments, as we look forward to the forthcoming launch in Cape Canaveral.”

BeresheetIsrael Aerospace IndustriesSpaceIL