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| Attribute | LUPEX (ISRO lander + JAXA rover) Lunar Polar Exploration Mission Trust: Agency-primary Last verified Remove × | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | JAXA + ISRO | ISRO | Astrobotic |
| Prime contractor | JAXA + ISRO | ISRO | Astrobotic |
| Status | In development | Landed | In development |
| Customer | JAXAISRO | ISRO | NASA-CLPS |
| Launch date | 2028 (NET) | 2023-07-14 | 2026-07 (NET) |
| Landing date | — | 2023-08-23 | — |
| Landing site | Lunar south pole (permanently shadowed crater margin) | Statio Shiv Shakti, 69.37°S — first soft landing near lunar south pole | Lunar south pole region |
| Payload | ~350 kg rover with drilling to 1.5 m + ISRO lander (2026-05-28) | Pragyan rover 27 kg + lander Vikram 1,749 kg (2023-08-23) | Venturi Astrolab FLIP rover + mass-simulator + secondary payloads (2026-05-28) |
| Contract value | — | ₹6.15B (~$75M USD) (2023-07-14) | $199.5M (2020-06-11) |
| Outcome | 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. | First soft landing near the lunar south pole and first lunar landing by ISRO. Pragyan rover traversed ~100 m over 10 lunar days, confirmed sulfur, aluminium, calcium, iron, chromium, titanium, manganese, silicon, oxygen at the landing site. Lander 'hopped' to a secondary location demonstrating reusable propulsion. | 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. |
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