Israel’s first unmanned moon lander’s Beresheet was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at about 8:45 p.m. EST (0145 GMT Friday).

In a significant development for Elon Musk’s SpaceX, the firm’s Falcon 9 rocket launched off successfully on Thursday night from Florida carrying Israel’s first lunar lander.

The development is likely to make Israel the fourth nation to ever to achieve a controlled touchdown on the moon’s surface.

The unmanned robotic lander, dubbed Beresheet, Hebrew for the biblical phrase “in the beginning”, was launched into space from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at about 8:45 p.m. EST (0145 GMT Friday) piggybacking on top of SpaceX’s 23-story-tall Falcon rocket.