Israeli scientists are set to launch what will be the world's first privately-funded mission to land a probe on the moon.

Propelled by a Flacon 9 rocket made by Elon Musk's company SpaceX, the probe will blast off from Florida at 1.45am UK time on Friday.

The journey to the moon — which involves a series of orbital trajectories — will take two months, with touchdown on the surface scheduled for April 11.

The mission is called Beresheet, named after the Hebrew word for "beginning", the first word in the Book of Genesis.

It is led by SpaceIL, a non-governmental organisation, but Israel's state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries is a partner.

If successful, the mission will make Israel the fourth country to reach the moon after Russia, the United States and China.

SpaceX are making a live feed of the launch available on its website.

“It’s going to be on the moon forever,” Yonatan Weintraub, SpaceIL's co-founder, told The Guardian.

The probe is one of the smallest ever to be launched, measuring 1.5 metres by 2 metres and weighing just 600 kg.

Costing $100 million (£76.6 million), it also describes itself as the lowest-costing moon mission in history.