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| Attribute | LUPEX (ISRO lander + JAXA rover) Lunar Polar Exploration Mission Trust: Agency-primary Last verified Remove × | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | SpaceX | Intuitive Machines | JAXA + ISRO |
| Prime contractor | SpaceX | Intuitive Machines | JAXA + ISRO |
| Status | In development | Landed | In development |
| Customer | NASA-HLS | NASA-CLPS | JAXAISRO |
| Launch date | 2027 (NET — Artemis III) | 2025-02-27 | 2028 (NET) |
| Landing date | — | 2025-03-06 | — |
| Landing site | Lunar south pole (NASA-curated candidate region near 84-90°S) | Mons Mouton plateau, lunar south pole (~400 m off target) | Lunar south pole (permanently shadowed crater margin) |
| Payload | ~100 tonnes to lunar surface (sustained variant target) (2024-04-16) | 10 payloads delivered (2025-03-06) | ~350 kg rover with drilling to 1.5 m + ISRO lander (2026-05-28) |
| Contract value | $2.89B + $1.15B Option B = $4.04B total (2022-11-15) | $62.5M (2025-02-27) | — |
| Outcome | Selected April 2021 as sole HLS provider for Artemis III. Architecture requires Super Heavy launch + multiple Starship tanker refueling flights in LEO + transit to NRHO + rendezvous with Orion (SLS). NASA OIG IG-26-004 (March 2026) flagged crew-rescue capability as open risk. October 2025: NASA acting administrator Sean Duffy reopened Artemis III lander contract to competition due to Starship development pace. | Soft-landed but tipped onto its side after altimeter failure caused the lander to strike a plateau and skid into a crater rim. Power depleted within ~24 hours; ~250 MB of data transmitted including TRIDENT drill range-of-motion demonstration. | 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. |
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Underlying dataset: GET /api/moon/landers. Methodology: /moon/methodology.