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| Attribute | LUPEX (ISRO lander + JAXA rover) Lunar Polar Exploration Mission Trust: Agency-primary Last verified Remove × | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Astrobotic | JAXA + ISRO | Astrobotic |
| Prime contractor | Astrobotic | JAXA + ISRO | Astrobotic |
| Status | In development | In development | Lost |
| Customer | NASA-CLPS | JAXAISRO | NASA-CLPS |
| Launch date | 2026-07 (NET) | 2028 (NET) | 2024-01-08 |
| Landing date | — | — | — |
| Landing site | Lunar south pole region | Lunar south pole (permanently shadowed crater margin) | Sinus Viscositatis (planned; never reached) |
| Payload | Venturi Astrolab FLIP rover + mass-simulator + secondary payloads (2026-05-28) | ~350 kg rover with drilling to 1.5 m + ISRO lander (2026-05-28) | 20 payloads from 7 nations (2024-01-08) |
| Contract value | $199.5M (2020-06-11) | — | $108M (2024-01-08) |
| Outcome | NASA cancelled VIPER July 2024 citing cost overruns; saved ~$84M vs ~$104M completion cost. Astrobotic retained the lander demonstration task. Mission slipped from late 2025 to NET July 2026. FLIP rover (Venturi Astrolab) selected as replacement manifest. | Joint ISRO-JAXA water-ice prospecting mission, designated Chandrayaan-5 by India. India's cabinet approved Phase A on 2025-03-10. Launches on JAXA's H3. Carries American and European instruments alongside Indian and Japanese ones. | Maiden flight of ULA's Vulcan Centaur. Helium pressurant valve failed to reseal post-actuation, over-pressurizing the oxidizer tank and rupturing it. Lander commanded into controlled re-entry; burned up over South Pacific 2024-01-18. |
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Underlying dataset: GET /api/moon/landers. Methodology: /moon/methodology.