India and Japan Gear Up for Joint Chandrayaan-5 Mission

The fifth lunar mission will be launched by JAXA onboard its H3-24L launch vehicle

- Bosky Khanna @ Bengaluru

Senior space scientists from Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) have conducted a two-day technical interface meeting on the joint Indo-Japanese Chandrayaan-5/Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX) mission.

The mission, the date for which is yet to be decided, will be the fifth mission in the Chandrayaan series of lunar missions, in collaboration with JAXA, to study the lunar volatile materials, including lunar water, in the vicinity of a Permanently Shadowed Region (PSR) at the lunar South pole. Chandrayaan-5 will follow Chandrayaan-4, which ISRO is looking to launch sometime in 2027 to be India's first lunar sample return mission.