India and Japan Collaborate on Lupex: New Era of Lunar Exploration
According to ISRO sources, the National Space Commission has now cleared India's fifth lunar mission-the Lunar Polar Exploration Mission, or Lupex-following the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3.
Lupex is a joint cooperation between ISRO and JAXA, in which the subsurface of the Moon shall be explored for water and other crucial resources. India too has its own plan for planetary journeys, where astronauts going to the Moon and returning safely to Earth will be part of the journey.
The Lupex mission is planned for a long stay on the lunar surface, last up to 100 days - more than five times Chandrayaan-3. The rover and rocket are to be developed by JAXA, and the lander system is ISRO. "Lupex rover will weigh approximately 350 kg, in contrast, with that Pragyan rover of Chandrayaan-3 weighing as much as 26 kg".
It is targeted at a specific lunar south pole location-90-degree latitude, Lupex will study the presence and distribution of water on the surface as well as below it. It will also probe how water interacts with dry regolith -- the layer of loose rock and dust that sits atop the Moon's bedrock.
Lupex will drill and conduct in-situ experiments on permanently shadowed regions of the Moon in a bid to gain valuable insights into its shadowed regions. The mission therefore follows the success of previous lunar missions that demonstrated capabilities to orbit, land, and deploy rovers.
India has recently achieved the entire lunar exploration line like Japan. India joined this elite list of four with the successful touch down near the lunar south pole of Chandrayaan-3. Japan touched down on the Moon during January of 2024 with its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, becoming the fifth country.
