Isro, Jaxa gear up for Chandrayaan-5, conclude key meet

BENGALURU: The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) have concluded their third face-to-face Technical Interface Meeting (TIM-3) for the collaborative Chandrayaan-5/Lupex mission.

The two-day meeting on May 13 and 14 in Bengaluru, which brought together senior officials, project executives, and technical teams from Isro, Jaxa, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) of Japan, is part of mission preparedness.

The Lunar Polar Exploration (Lupex) mission, which India has designated as Chandrayaan-5, will be India’s fifth initiative in the Chandrayaan lunar programme and is aimed at studying lunar volatile materials, including water, near a Permanently Shadowed Region (PSR) at the Moon’s South Pole.

Japan will be responsible for the development and operation of the launch vehicle and rover, while India will be responsible for the development and operation of the lander. Aside from Indian and Japanese instruments, Lupex will also carry American, and European instruments.

Isro chairman V Narayanan had earlier told TOI the landing mass of the Chandrayaan-5 spacecraft will be 6,200kg and the rover will weigh 350-400kg compared to Chandrayaan-3’s 26kg.

“After the project was approved, configuration study has been completed, and teams are now working on hardware design and development,” Narayanan had said.

TOI had reported earlier that Lupex will need Isro to work on a heavier lander engine, which Narayanan confirmed. He said work had already begun on that.

During the recent Isro-Jaxa meeting, Tirtha Pratim Das, director, Isro’s science programme office, provided a comprehensive briefing on major milestones achieved in landing site selection, payload optimisation, mission design, and ground segment and communication aspects.

G Ravi Chandra Babu, study team leader for Chandrayaan-5, detailed the technical configurations and stressed the importance of clearly defining project milestones, timelines, and deliverables. Jaxa’s Dai-Asoh outlined the technical progress in rover development and related interfaces during his opening address.

The meeting focused on various technical interfaces, the joint mission implementation plan, and potential landing sites. The Centre had formally approved Chandrayaan-5 on March 10, 2025 with financial sanction.