The Lunar Polar Exploration mission (LUPEX), also known as Chandrayaan-4, is a robotic lunar mission concept by

Indian Space Research Organisation The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO; ) is the national space agency of India, headquartered in Bengaluru. It operates under the Department of Space (DOS) which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India, while the Chairman ...

(ISRO) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (

JAXA The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into orb ...

) that would send a

lunar rover A lunar rover or Moon rover is a space exploration vehicle designed to move across the surface of the Moon. The Apollo Program's Lunar Roving Vehicle was driven on the Moon by members of three American crews, Apollo 15, 16, and 17. Other rov ...

and lander to explore the

south pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...

region of the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

no earlier than 2025. JAXA is likely to provide the under-development H3

launch vehicle A launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket designed to carry a payload (spacecraft or satellites) from the Earth's surface to outer space. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pad, launch pads, supported by a missile launch contro ...

and the rover, while ISRO would be responsible for the lander. The mission concept is currently in conceptual phase.

History

ISRO signed an Implementation Arrangement (IA) in December 2017 for pre-phase A, phase A study and completed the feasibility report in March 2018 with

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into orb ...

(JAXA) to explore the polar regions of Moon for

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

with a joint Lunar Polar Exploration Mission (LUPEX) that would be launched no earlier than 2025. ISRO and JAXA held the Joint Mission Definition Review (JMDR) in December 2018. By the end of 2019, JAXA concluded its internal Project Readiness Review. Since

Chandrayaan-2 Chandrayaan-2 (, ; ) is the second lunar exploration mission developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), after Chandrayaan-1. It consists of a lunar orbiter, and also included the ''Vikram'' lander, and the ''Pragyan'' lunar ...

's lander crashed on the Moon during its landing attempt in September 2019, India started to study a new lunar mission namely

Chandrayaan-3 Chandrayaan-3 (, ; ) is a planned third lunar exploration mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Following Chandrayaan-2, where a last-minute glitch in the Soft landing (aeronautics), soft landing guidance software led to th ...

as a repeat attempt to demonstrate the landing capabilities needed for the LUPEX. On 24 September 2019, in a joint statement by

and

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

discussed possibility of NASA's participation as well. JAXA finished its domestic System Requirement Review (SRR) in early 2021.

Overview

The Lunar Polar Exploration mission would demonstrate new surface exploration technologies related to vehicular transport and lunar night survival for sustainable lunar exploration in polar regions. For precision landing it would utilize a feature matching algorithm and navigational equipment derived from JAXA's

Smart Lander for Investigating Moon Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) is a lunar lander being developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The lander will demonstrate precision landing technology. By 2017, the lander was planned to be launched in 2021, but ...

(SLIM) mission. The lander's payload capacity would be at minimum. The rover would carry multiple instruments by JAXA and ISRO including a drill to collect sub-surface samples from depth. Water prospecting and analysis are likely to be mission objectives. The

European Space Agency , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...

's Exospheric Mass Spectrometer L-band (EMS-L) of PROSPECT mission was originally planned to fly as a payload on the Russian

Luna 27 Luna 27 (Luna-Resurs 1 lander or Luna-Resource-1 lander)

and related sanctions on Russia. Payload proposals from other space agencies might be sought.

Payloads

Few selected Japanese instruments along with the candidate instruments of ISRO and ESA and the invited international collaborators by JAXA. * Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR): Underground radar observation up to 1.5 meter during rover traverse. (ISRO) * Neutron Spectrometer (NS): Underground neutron (hydrogen) observation up to one meter during rover traverse. (NASA) * Advanced Lunar Imaging Spectrometer (ALIS): /OH observation of the surface and drilled regolith. * Exospheric Mass Spectrometer for LUPEX (EMS-L): Surface gas pressure and chemical species measurement. (ESA) * REsourceInvestigation Water Analyzer (REIWA): Instrument package of the four instruments. ** Lunar Thermogravimetric Analyzer (LTGA): Thermogravimetric analyses of the drilled samples for water content. ** TRIple-reflection reflecTrON (TRITON): Identification of chemical species of the volatile component in the drilled samples based on mass spectrometry. ** Aquatic Detector using Optical Resonance (ADORE): Water content measurement in the drilled samples based on cavity ring-down spectrometry. ** ISRO Sample Analysis Package: Mineralogical and elemental measurement of the drilled samples. (ISRO) *Permittivity and Thermo-physical Investigation for Moon's Aquatic Scout (PRATHIMA): For in-situ detection and quantification of water-ice mixed with lunar regolith *Alpha Particle Spectrometer (APS) *Low Energy Gamma Ray Spectrometer (LEGRS): For measuring low energy (46.5 keV) gamma ray line to study the volatile transport on the Moon with

Cadmium Zinc Telluride Cadmium zinc telluride, (CdZnTe) or CZT, is a compound of cadmium, zinc and tellurium or, more strictly speaking, an alloy of cadmium telluride and zinc telluride. A direct bandgap semiconductor, it is used in a variety of applications, including ...

(CZT) detectors.

References

{{Future spaceflights Missions to the Moon Indian lunar exploration programme Lunar rovers Proposed spacecraft 2024 in spaceflight

History

Overview

Payloads

See also

References