Three months ago, a small, privately-owned spacecraft made history, when it found its way to the moon.
Beresheet’s landing was a failure – the 1.5 metre robot crashed onto the lunar surface after its engine malfunctioned. But the Israeli company behind it – SpaceIL – is now using the experience to inform future space missions, and students.
The team is aiming to inspire a new generation of innovators – and cement the country’s reputation as “the StartUp Nation”.
SpaceIL co-founder Kfir Damari told 9News that children who had been involved in the project learned from its crash landing.
“They cried, but then they went home to their parents and they spoke about the meaning of success, and the fact in order to succeed, you need to go through challenges,” he said, speaking at Cyber Week at Tel Aviv University.
It’s this culture of accepting failure and encouraging risk-taking that many Israelis credit for the country’s success in tech and innovation.
And it’s prompted a group of prominent Australian women leaders to call on Australia to change its attitude towards innovation.
Among the Israeli measures some of them say Australia should consider adopting- a government authority that pumps hundreds-of-millions of dollars into high-risk tech innovation and startups.
Read the article by Political Reporter Fiona Willan and watch the report on Channel 9 News.