Chandrayaan-5: India and Japan Announce Joint Moon Mission

Chandrayaan-5: Senior space scientists from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), JAXA, and ISRO held a two-day technical interface meeting for the joint Indo-Japanese Chandrayaan-5/Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX) mission. This upcoming fifth Chandrayaan mission will explore water and volatile minerals near a Permanently Shadowed Region (PSR) at the Moon’s South Pole. The mission follows Chandrayaan-4, India’s first lunar sample return mission, which ISRO aims to launch in 2027.

India, Japan Unite for Moon Mission:

JAXA will launch Chandrayaan-5 using its H3-24L launch vehicle, carrying ISRO’s lunar lander. The lander will transport a lunar rover developed by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). ISRO will also develop several scientific instruments for the mission, though details are still pending. ISRO, JAXA, the European Space Agency, and NASA will each contribute instruments focused on exploring and analyzing volatiles preserved in the Moon’s polar region.

Joint Moon Mission:

ISRO hosted a two-day in-person meeting at its Bengaluru headquarters on May 13 and 14, where officials discussed technical interfaces, the collaborative mission implementation plan, and potential landing sites for the Chandrayaan-5 lunar mission.

Dr. Tirtha Pratim Das, Director of the Science Programme Office, outlined the mission design, ground segment and communication, payload optimization, and landing site selection. G Ravi Chandra Babu, head of the Chandrayaan-5/LUPEX study team, stressed the need to clearly define the project’s deliverables, timeline, and milestones.

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Dai-Asoh, Project Manager of JAXA’s LUPEX team, shared updates on the rover’s technical progress and related interfaces during the gathering. ISRO’s Scientific Secretary, M Ganesh Pillai, emphasized the importance of collaboration in both the mission’s technical and scientific aspects.

The Centre approved the Chandrayaan-5/LUPEX mission on March 10, 2025. It marks one of the most significant short-term milestones in India’s lunar exploration roadmap, which aims to land Indian Gaganyatris (astronauts) on the Moon by 2040.