Latest news with #LUPEX
United News of India
16-05-2025
- Science
- United News of India
ISRO, JAXA gears up for joint Chandrayaan-5/LUPEX Mission in technical meet
Chennai, May 16 (UNI) The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and JAXA, the space agency of Japan, jointly conducted the third face-to-face Technical Interface Meeting (TIM-3), towards the Chandrayaan-5/LUPEX mission. The Chandrayaan-5 / LUPEX missions will be one of the major short-term milestones in India's lunar exploration odyssey, which envisions Indian Gaganyatris (astronauts) landing on the Moon by year 2040. The meeting was held in ISRO Headquarters, Bengaluru and was attended by senior officials, project executives, and technical team members from ISRO, JAXA, and the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), Japan, ISRO said on Friday . Following the legacy of Chandrayaan-1, Chandrayaan-2 (orbiter-based lunar exploration), Chandrayaan-3 (lander-rover based in-situ exploration) and the forthcoming Chandrayaan-4 (India's first lunar sample return mission), the Chandrayaan-5/LUPEX (LUnar Polar EXploration) mission 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) in the lunar South pole. The mission will be launched by JAXA onboard its H3-24L launch vehicle, carrying the ISRO-made lunar lander, which will carry the MHI, Japan-made lunar rover. ISRO, apart from developing the lunar lander, is also responsible for developing a few scientific instruments for the mission. The scientific instruments for this mission would be contributed by ISRO, JAXA, ESA and NASA, all thematically connected with the exploration and in-situ analysis of the volatiles reserved in the lunar polar region. The approval for the Chandrayaan-5/LUPEX mission was received from Government of India on March 10, 2025, in the form of financial sanction. During the meeting, M. Ganesh Pillai, Scientific Secretary, ISRO congratulated both the teams for the technical achievements so far, and emphasized on the importance of the collaborative endeavor for the scientific and technical aspects of the mission. Dr. Tirtha Pratim Das, Director, Science Programme Office, ISRO Headquarters, briefed about the major milestones achieved in terms of the landing site selection, payload optimization, mission design, as well as the ground segment and communication aspects. G Ravi Chandra Babu, study team leader of Chandrayaan-5/LUPEX, briefed about the technical configurations arrived. He emphasized on the need for the clear definition of the milestones, timeline and deliverables of the project. Mr. Dai-Asoh, JAXA briefed about the technical progress made towards the development of the rover and the interfaces related. The two days face-to-face meeting deliberated on the various technical interfaces, joint mission implementation plan, as well as the potential landing sites for the mission. UNI GV 1815
The Hindu
15-05-2025
- Science
- The Hindu
ISRO's 101st launch, EOS-09 mission, scheduled for May 18
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all geared up for its 101st launch with the PSLV-C61 / EOS-09 mission, which is scheduled to be launched on May 18 at 5.59 a.m. from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. ISRO on Thursday (May 15, 2025) said the PSLV was moved from the Payload Integration Facility to the Mobile Service Tower at the spaceport in Sriharikota for further integration. Watch this timelapse of PSLV-C61 / EOS-09 — marking ISRO's 101st launch — as PSLV is moved from the Payload Integration Facility (PIF) to the Mobile Service Tower (MST) at SDSC-SHAR, Sriharikota for further integration. A step closer to launch on 18 May at 5:59 IST!#PSLVC61… — ISRO (@isro) May 15, 2025 EOS-09 is an earth observation satellite which is expected to boost India's surveillance capabilities in all-weather conditions. The satellite is equipped with C-band synthetic aperture radar enabling capturing of high-resolution images of the Earth's surface under all-weather conditions 24/7. Chandrayaan-5/LUPEX mission ISRO and JAXA, the space agency of Japan, jointly conducted the third face-to-face Technical Interface Meeting (TIM-3), for the Chandrayaan-5/ Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX) mission, in ISRO Headquarters, Bengaluru on May 13 and 14. The meeting was attended by senior officials, project executives, and technical team members from ISRO, JAXA, and the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), Japan. 'Following the legacy of Chandrayaan-1, Chandrayaan-2 (orbiter-based lunar exploration), Chandrayaan-3 (lander-rover based in-situ exploration) and the forthcoming Chandrayaan-4 (India's first lunar sample return mission), the Chandrayaan-5 / LUPEX mission 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 in the lunar south pole,' ISRO said. The mission will be launched by JAXA onboard its H3-24L launch vehicle, carrying the ISRO-made lunar lander, which will carry the MHI, Japan-made lunar rover. ISRO, apart from developing the lunar lander, is also responsible for developing a few scientific instruments for the mission. The scientific instruments for this mission would be contributed by ISRO, JAXA, ESA and NASA, all thematically connected with the exploration and in-situ analysis of the volatiles reserved in the lunar polar region. The approval for the Chandrayaan-5 / LUPEX mission was received from the Government of India on March 10, 2025, in the form of financial sanction.
India Today
15-05-2025
- Business
- India Today
Chandrayaan-5 takes shape: Isro and Japanese space agency discuss design
India and Japan have taken a major step forward in their joint lunar exploration efforts, as the Chandrayaan-5/LUPEX mission officially enters its design officials and technical teams from the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) convened in Bengaluru for the third Technical Interface Meeting (TIM-3).The meeting focused on finalising mission design, technical interfaces, and collaborative milestones for this ambitious Chandrayaan-5, also known as LUPEX (Lunar Polar Exploration), will be the fifth mission in India's Chandrayaan series, following the successes of Chandrayaan-1, Chandrayaan-2, Chandrayaan-3, and the upcoming Chandrayaan-4 sample return new mission aims to study lunar volatile materials, particularly water, in the permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) near the Moon's south pole-a key area for future human mission will launch aboard JAXA's H3-24L rocket, carrying an ISRO-built lunar lander and a Japanese-made rover developed by MHI. Scientific instruments for the mission will be contributed not only by ISRO and JAXA, but also by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, all focused on in-situ analysis of lunar officials highlighted progress in landing site selection, payload optimisation, and ground communication meeting also addressed the need for clear project milestones, timelines, and deliverables to ensure the mission's success. The Government of India approved Chandrayaan-5/LUPEX with financial sanction in March 2025, further solidifying the mission's is seen as a major milestone in India's long-term lunar ambitions, which include landing Indian astronauts on the Moon by India and Japan move into the mission's detailed design phase, global collaboration and technological innovation are set to drive the next era of lunar Watch
Indian Express
15-05-2025
- Science
- Indian Express
Chandrayaan-5 mission: India, Japan to enter design phase
Indian and Japanese space agencies working on the Chandrayaan-5 mission, aimed at deeper exploration of the Moon's surface, mainly for water, will soon commence the preliminary design phase of the lander and the rover. 'The instrument selections have been done, the engineering model testing is almost done and both India and Japan are entering the preliminary design phase,' according to Asoh Dai, Project Manager, LUPEX, at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Chandrayaan-5, also known as LUPEX (Lunar Polar Exploration), is a joint project between ISRO and JAXA to study water and water-ice both on the lunar surface and the subsurface. Weighing 6.5 tonnes, it is proposed to lift off on a Japanese rocket, H3, sometime in 2027-28. Using the rover, JAXA teams plan to trace areas on the Moon with presence of water, sample the nearby soil or regolith by drilling into the surface. The onboard instruments will measure the water content and its quality and perform other in-situ observations. The Cabinet approved Chandrayaan-5 in March this year, more than a year after India became the first country to achieve a soft landing on the Moon's south pole with Chandrayaan-3. The proposed Chandrayaan-4 mission will be a return sample mission: samples dug from the Moon will be brought to Earth for ISRO to study the mineral composition of the lunar surface. Dai was speaking at the Global Space Exploration conference held in New Delhi last week. At the event, ISRO chief V Narayanan said Chandrayaan-5 mission is proposed to be for 3.5 months (100 days). ISRO is developing Chandrayaan-5's lander whereas JAXA is building the 350-kg rover. There will be seven scientific instruments onboard, some contributed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA. ESA is developing the mass spectrometer and NASA the neutron spectrometers — both are currently in the design phase. Spectrometers are specialised scientific instruments that aid in performing in-situ (at the site) experiments requiring calculation of the energy and mass of samples. These experiments help understand the evolution of the composition of hydrogen and other elements. 'One of the (seven) instruments will be a large one and shall have four sensors, of which one is being developed by ISRO and the other three by JAXA,' said Dai. The rover will be designed and programmed by JAXA to travel certain distances on the lunar surface and climb hills up to an inclination of 25 degrees. 'The batteries' charging (of the rover) have been planned in such a way that they will be charged once each before and after sample collection. This is very complex,' said Dai. On the LUPEX mission life, he said: 'If everything goes well as planned, then towards the end of the mission, we hope to go to the far side of the Moon. And if possible, extend the mission life by a year.' A JAXA team is visiting ISRO headquarters in Bengaluru this week to hold discussions.
