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| Attribute | LUPEX (ISRO lander + JAXA rover) Lunar Polar Exploration Mission Trust: Agency-primary Last verified Remove × | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | JAXA + ISRO | ISRO | Firefly Aerospace |
| Prime contractor | JAXA + ISRO | ISRO | Firefly Aerospace |
| Status | In development | In development | In development |
| Customer | JAXAISRO | ISRO | NASA-CLPSESA |
| Launch date | 2028 (NET) | 2027–2028 (NET) | 2026-Q4 (NET) |
| Landing date | — | — | — |
| Landing site | Lunar south pole (permanently shadowed crater margin) | Near Mons Mouton, lunar south pole | Lunar far side (specific site TBD; supports LuSEE-Night) |
| Payload | ~350 kg rover with drilling to 1.5 m + ISRO lander (2026-05-28) | Up to 3 kg lunar sample return (2026-02-06) | Dual-spacecraft: Blue Ghost lander + Elytra orbital relay (2026-05-28) |
| Contract value | — | — | — |
| 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. | 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. |
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Underlying dataset: GET /api/moon/landers. Methodology: /moon/methodology.