Fifth LUPEX Mission:
The National Space Commission, India’s apex body on space missions, cleared the fifth lunar mission, the Lunar Polar Exploration Mission.
- LUPEX Mission is a collaborative mission between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
- Objective is to explore the moon’s southern polar region, investigating the presence of water and other elements, potentially in the form of surface ice.
- It aims to showcase innovative surface exploration technologies. The special focus is on vehicular transport and lunar night survival.
- It features both a lander and a rover.
- JAXA is responsible for developing and operating the rover, and ISRO for developing and operating the lander that will carry the rover.
- The rover will drive on its own to search for areas where water is likely to be present and sample the soil by digging into the ground with a drill.
- The plan is to acquire data by analyzing the collected samples in detail with observation equipment mounted on the rover.
- The rover will be equipped with instruments for measuring the water content of regolith (lunar sand), drilling, and sampling, as well as with other world-first and world-leading technologies for the driving system and batteries.
- The rover will carry not only the instruments of ISRO and JAXA but also those of the US space agency NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).
- The mission is scheduled to launch in 2025.
