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| Attribute | LUPEX (ISRO lander + JAXA rover) Lunar Polar Exploration Mission Trust: Agency-primary Last verified Remove × | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | JAXA + ISRO | Intuitive Machines | CNSA |
| Prime contractor | JAXA + ISRO | Intuitive Machines | China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) |
| Status | In development | Landed | In development |
| Customer | JAXAISRO | NASA-CLPS | CNSA |
| Launch date | 2028 (NET) | 2024-02-15 | 2026-08 (NET) |
| Landing date | — | 2024-02-22 | — |
| Landing site | Lunar south pole (permanently shadowed crater margin) | Malapert A crater, ~300 km from lunar south pole | Shackleton crater illuminated rim, lunar south pole |
| Payload | ~350 kg rover with drilling to 1.5 m + ISRO lander (2026-05-28) | ~100 kg payload capacity (1,908 kg launch mass) (2024-02-22) | 18 science payloads across orbiter, lander, rover, mini-hopper, and Queqiao-2 (2026-05-28) |
| Contract value | — | $118M (2024-02-15) | — |
| 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 US Moon landing since Apollo 17 and first commercial soft landing in history. Lander tipped to ~30° on touchdown after landing-leg failure but transmitted data for ~7 days before sunset. | China's first dedicated lunar south-pole prospecting mission. Mini-flying probe hops into permanently shadowed regions to sample for water-ice volatiles. Italian laser retroreflector aboard the lander. |
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