India Lunar Polar Exploration Mission Approved

India's National Space Commission has authorized the Lunar Polar Exploration Mission (Lupex), a new lunar mission, after the completion of Chandrayaan-3 in August 2023. The goal of this project, which is a collaboration between Japan's JAXA and India's ISRO, is to investigate the Moon's resources, particularly the water near the lunar south pole.

Lupex Mission Objectives and Duration

• Studying water and other Moon resources.
• Understanding water's presence, location, and presence beneath the Moon's soil.
• Operating for up to 100 days on the Moon's surface.
• Exploring areas that sunlight never reaches using special drilling and on-site experiments.

Collaboration Between India and Japan

• Both countries will share responsibilities.
• JAXA (Japan) will build the rover and rocket, ISRO (India) will build the lander.
• Lupex rover will be 350 kg in weight.

Future Potentials

• Information from Lupex will aid future Moon missions and strengthen international space exploration cooperation.
• Lupex contributes to lunar geology studies and international space research collaboration.