The Israeli spacecraft Beresheet has crashed on the Moon after a series of technical failures during its final descent, shattering scientists' hopes of a historic controlled landing on the lunar surface.

Key points: Beresheet's engine had shut down as it approached the surface of the Moon

Beresheet's engine had shut down as it approached the surface of the Moon By the time power was restored it was moving too rapidly to land safely and it crashed

By the time power was restored it was moving too rapidly to land safely and it crashed It was meant to touch down on the Moon's Sea of Serenity, near where Apollo 17 astronauts landed in 1972

The unmanned robotic lander suffered periodic engine and communication failures during the 21 minutes of the landing sequence, the support team said.

Beresheet, which means "in the beginning" in Hebrew, had lost contact with ground control as it was making its final descent to the Moon.

Moments later, the mission was declared a failure.

Scientists, who had been giddy with excitement, were visibly distraught and celebrations at viewing centres across the country were dashed.

Beresheet had orbited the Moon before the attempted landing. ( Reuters: Supplied/SpaceIL )

"We definitely crashed on surface of Moon," said the general manager of the space division of Israel Aerospace Industries, Opher Doron.

He said the spacecraft was now in pieces scattered across the planned landing site.

The spacecraft's engine had turned off shortly before landing.

By the time power was restored, Beresheet was moving too fast to land safely on the Moon's surface.

Scientists were still trying to work out what had caused the engine to fail.

"One of the inertial measurement units failed. And that caused an unfortunate chain of events we're not sure about," Mr Doron said.

"The engine was turned off. The engine was stopped and the spacecraft crashed. That's all we know."

The path Beresheet had followed to reach the Moon. ( Supplied: Israeli Space Agency )

Beresheet's journey to the moon

The spacecraft had travelled through space for seven weeks in a series of expanding orbits around Earth before crossing into the Moon's gravity last week.

It had hitched a ride on the SpaceX Falcon rocket, which had been launched from Florida in February.

The final manoeuvre on Wednesday brought it into a tight elliptical orbit around the Moon, between 15 kilometres to 17 kilometres from the surface at its closest.

Beresheet had travelled for almost two months to reach lunar orbit. ( Reuters: Supplied/SpaceIL )

Beresheet was aiming to land at an area known as the Sea of Serenity, or Mare Serenitatis in Latin, which is near where Apollo 17 astronauts landed in 1972, NASA said.

The failure was a disappointing ending to a 6.5-million kilometre voyage, almost unprecedented in length, that was designed to conserve fuel and reduce the price of lunar voyages.

The small robotic spacecraft, built by the non-profit SpaceIL and state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries, had hoped to match a feat that has only been achieved by the national space agencies of three countries — China, the US and Russia.

Observers had hoped to celebrate Beresheet's landing. ( Reuters: Amir Cohen )

'We will succeed in the end'

The mishap occurred in front of a packed audience that included Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and was broadcast live on national television.

"If at first you don't succeed, try try again," Mr Netanyahu said.

He vowed to put an Israeli spacecraft on the Moon "intact" in the next two years.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin hosted dozens of youngsters at his official residence for the launch.

The children, some of whom were wearing white spacesuits, appeared confused as the crash unfolded.

"We are full of admiration for the wonderful people who brought the spacecraft to the Moon," Mr Rivlin said. "True, not as we had hoped, but we will succeed in the end."

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NASA broadcast the landing attempt live on its dedicated TV channels, as well as online.

"While NASA regrets the end of the SpaceIL mission without a successful lunar landing of the Beresheet lander, we congratulate SpaceIL, the Israel Aerospace Industries and the state of Israel on the incredible accomplishment of sending the first privately funded mission into lunar orbit," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said.

"Every attempt to reach new milestones holds opportunities for us to learn, adjust and progress.

"I have no doubt that Israel and SpaceIL will continue to explore and I look forward to celebrating their future achievements," he said.

ABC/wires