Get a detailed insight into the Chandrayaan-4 mission. Know what the mission will unveil and how it will be carried out

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and JAXA are developing the Chandrayaan-4 mission which is known as the Lunar Polar Exploration Mission (LUPEX). This international collaborative mission will study the quantity and types of water resources present on the lunar surface.

The launch of the Chandrayaan-4 mission will take place in 2025 if everything goes as planned. The launch will be carried by JAXA’s H3 rocket. According to JAXA, the launch mission has around 6 tons of mass whereas the lander and the rover weigh more than 350 kilograms.

The LUPEX mission will aim to land on the lunar south polar region in search of water and it is planned to stay on the Moon for more than 3 months to conduct successful studies. Furthermore, the rover and the lander will also be designed to survive lunar night and extreme cold.

The Chandrayaan-4 mission will be equipped with six major payloads: Resource Investigation Water Analyzer(REIWA), Advanced Lunar Imaging Spectrometer(ALIS), Neuron Spectrometer(NS), Ground Penetrating Radar(GPR), Exospheric Mass Spectrometer for LUPEX(EMS-L), and Mid-Infrared Imaging Spectrometer.

The Resource Investigation Water Analyzer(REIWA) payload will further consist of four major instruments to study water resources. The instruments include a Lunar Thermogravimetric Analyzer(LTGA), Triple Reflection Reflectron (TRITON), Aquatic Detector using Optical Resonance(ADORE), and Sample Analysis Package(ISAP).