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| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | ISRO | Firefly Aerospace | CNSA |
| Prime contractor | ISRO | Firefly Aerospace | China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) |
| Status | In development | In development | Landed |
| Customer | ISRO | NASA-CLPSESA | CNSA |
| Launch date | 2027–2028 (NET) | 2026-Q4 (NET) | 2024-05-03 |
| Landing date | — | — | 2024-06-01 |
| Landing site | Near Mons Mouton, lunar south pole | Lunar far side (specific site TBD; supports LuSEE-Night) | Apollo crater, South Pole-Aitken Basin (lunar far side) |
| Payload | Up to 3 kg lunar sample return (2026-02-06) | Dual-spacecraft: Blue Ghost lander + Elytra orbital relay (2026-05-28) | 1,935.3 g of lunar far-side regolith returned to Earth (2024-06-25) |
| Contract value | — | — | — |
| Outcome | India's first lunar sample-return mission. Five modules launched on two LVM3 vehicles; requires both Earth-orbit and lunar-orbit docking — first-time capabilities for ISRO. Architecture sanctioned by Government of India September 2024. | First commercial far-side landing attempt. Elytra deploys ESA's Lunar Pathfinder relay before Blue Ghost descends, providing dual-S/X-band relay for surface and orbital users. JPL's User Terminal Payload delivered for integration April 2026. | First-ever sample return from the lunar far side and the South Pole-Aitken Basin. Used the Queqiao-2 relay satellite for far-side comms. Samples revealed unexpectedly cohesive grain behavior and excavated material from the Moon's mantle. |
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Underlying dataset: GET /api/moon/landers. Methodology: /moon/methodology.