What is LUPEX Mission? India’s 5th Lunar Polar Exploration Mission: Key Facts

India’s National Space Commission has officially approved the Lunar Polar Exploration Mission (LUPEX), marking the country’s fifth lunar mission. A collaborative effort between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Japan’s Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), LUPEX aims to investigate the presence of water and other valuable resources in the Moon’s south polar regions. This mission is a follow-up to India's successful Chandrayaan-3 mission, which made history in August 2023.

What is LUPEX Mission?

The LUPEX project is a collaborative lunar exploration mission by JAXA (Japan) and ISRO (India), focused on investigating the Moon's surface for water and other critical resources. JAXA is responsible for the lunar rover, while ISRO will develop the lander that will deploy the rover. Additionally, the mission will include observation instruments from NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) to enhance its scientific objectives. The LUPEX mission aims to develop expertise in lunar exploration and advance technologies for future missions.

Science Behind It: Why Sky Is Blue?

Objectives

The LUPEX mission will assess both the amount and quality of water on the Moon, to use this data to support sustainable human presence in the future. Additionally, it focuses on developing vital technologies for rovers and landers to operate effectively in the Moon's harsh environment, which is crucial for advancing space exploration efforts.

Mission Duration

The LUPEX project is currently scheduled for launch in 2025.  The LUPEX mission is expected to operate for up to 100 days on the lunar surface, which is five times longer than Chandrayaan-3’s operational period. This extended timeline will allow for comprehensive exploration and data collection, making it one of the most ambitious lunar missions ISRO and JAXA have collaborated on.

Technical Specifications

The LUPEX mission will feature a rover and a lander, each designed for specific scientific and technical purposes. JAXA will build the rover, which is expected to weigh around 350 kilograms—substantially larger than Chandrayaan-3’s 26 kg Pragyan rover. This larger size will enable the LUPEX rover to carry more scientific instruments for more sophisticated analysis.

JAXA’s rover, developed for the LUPEX mission, will autonomously navigate the lunar surface in search of potential water-rich areas. It will be equipped with a drill to extract soil samples, which will then be analysed using onboard instruments. These instruments will measure the water content in the lunar regolith. Additionally, the rover will feature cutting-edge technology in its driving system and energy storage, representing some of the world’s most advanced innovations in lunar exploration. The goal is to gather detailed data to support future lunar missions.

The lander, which will be built by ISRO, will carry the rover. The lander will also carry instruments to study the distribution and quantity of water, as well as in-situ experiments to analyze the lunar surface.

Scientific Instruments

The mission instruments include:

JAXA's Resource Exploration Water Analyzer (REIWA) Advanced Lunar Imaging Spectrometer (ALIS),

ISRO's Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and Mid-Infrared Spectrometer (MIR), Permittivity and Thermophysical Investigation for Moon’s Aquatic Scout (PRATHIMA), and Raman spectrometer integrated in REIWA,

NASA's Neutron Spectrometer (NS) and ESA's Exospheric Mass Spectrometer for LUPEX (EMS-L).

In addition to mission instruments, direct measurement of lunar water by conducting in-situ measurements to achieve the mission objectives, so the rover has a drilling system to excavate and a sampling system to pick the regolith sample from a designated depth.

Significance of exploring lunar polar regions

Exploring the lunar polar regions is significant because recent analyses suggest the presence of water, especially near the Moon's north and south poles. If confirmed, this water could be harnessed as an energy source for future human activities on the Moon, such as supporting life or producing fuel for long-term missions. This potential has driven countries to intensify their efforts in lunar exploration, as accessing lunar water resources would be a game-changer for sustainable space exploration and colonisation.