Chandrayaan-5 Mission to Be Jointly Conducted with Japan

V. Narayanan, the Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has announced the Centre’s approval for the Chandrayaan-5 mission to the Moon. The mission will be a joint project with Japan, Narayanan stated to the media.

"Just three days ago, we received approval for the Chandrayaan-5 mission. We will be carrying it out in collaboration with Japan," the ISRO chief said while attending a felicitation event following his appointment as the chairman of ISRO, headquartered in Bengaluru, on Sunday.

Providing further details, Narayanan revealed that Chandrayaan-5's rover will be ten times heavier than that of Chandrayaan-3, which carried the 25-kg rover 'Pragyaan.' Chandrayaan-5 will be preceded by Chandrayaan-4, scheduled for launch in 2027, with the objective of bringing back samples collected from the Moon.

Chandrayaan Mission Overview

The Chandrayaan mission aims to study the lunar surface. Chandrayaan-1, successfully launched in 2008, conducted chemical, mineralogical, and photo-geologic mapping of the Moon.

The Chandrayaan-2 mission in 2019 achieved 98 percent success, with only two percent of the mission remaining unaccomplished in its final stages. Despite this, Narayanan stated that the high-resolution camera onboard Chandrayaan-2 continues to transmit hundreds of images. Narayanan also serves as the Secretary of the Department of Space.

Chandrayaan-3, a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2, successfully demonstrated ISRO's end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface.

On August 23, 2023, ISRO successfully executed a soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 at the Moon’s South Pole, marking a historic achievement. India became the first nation to land on the Moon's South Pole and only the fifth nation to achieve a successful soft landing on the lunar surface, joining the United States, Russia, China, and Japan.

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