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LUPEX/Chandrayaan-4 [JAXA/ISRO] - NET 2025 by tul on 28 Feb, 2021 00:56
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Lunar Polar Exploration Mission (LUPEX) is a joint ISRO - JAXA moon mission with a 350 kilo rover. JAXA will provide the H3 rocket and most of the rover. Launch is planned for 2023. The rover can drill 1,5 meters deep. The mission is fully funded now.
https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2021/pdf/1840.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Polar_Exploration_Mission
Maybe they can do a joint mars rover afterwards? -
#1 by jbenton on 28 Feb, 2021 02:24
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...
Maybe they can do a joint mars rover afterwards?
Either that or ISRO can play a role in JAXA's probe to Phobos in 2024 (MMX) - funding permitting. -
#2 by Steven Pietrobon on 18 Mar, 2021 02:54
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This is a joint mission with India involving a Lunar lander and rover. Destination is the Lunar South pole.
https://www.spaceconnectonline.com.au/launch/4795-quad-discussions-facilitate-space-collaboration
The ISRO has also been busy inking agreements with JAXA to improve surveillance and satellite collaboration, with the ISRO and JAXA conducting a review of an upcoming mission just last week.
In fact, the agencies hope to launch a lunar mission by 2024. The mission, referred to as the Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX) is expected to undertake observation of the Moon’s south pole, and recently received a 2.8 billion Yen windfall from the Japanese government. -
#3 by sdsds on 18 Mar, 2021 03:31
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CURRENT STATUS OF THE PLANNED LUNAR POLAR EXPLORATION MISSION JOINTLY STUDIED
BY INDIA AND JAPAN. M. Ohtake 1,2 , Y. Karouji 1 , Y. Ishihara 1 , R. Nomura 1 , H. Inoue 1 , H. Shiraishi 1 , H. Mizuno 1 ,
T. Hoshino 1 , and D. Asoh 1 , 1 Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, 3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Chuo-ku, Sagamihara, Kana-
gawa, 252-5210, Japan, 2 University of Aizu, Tsuruga, Ikki-machi Aizu-Wakamatsu, Fukushima, 965-8580, JAPAN
([email protected]).
52nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2021
https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2021/pdf/1840.pdf
Of note:
- The mission duration is estimated to be more than 3.5 months after landing.
- The rover weighs around 350 kg (including payloads).
- The rover can drill to 1.5 m.
- The plan is to first conduct a coarse search with ground-penetrating radar, etc., find an area where water ice may exist and then select a spot for drilling.
The acronym for the water analysis instrument is REIWA, a word having another meaning in Japanese. According to wikipedia, 'The Japanese Foreign Ministry provided an English-language interpretation of Reiwa as "beautiful harmony."'
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#4 by Steven Pietrobon on 18 Mar, 2021 03:54
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Here's the only image from the paper. ISRO is building the lander and JAXA is building the rover.
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#5 by vyoma on 05 Apr, 2022 22:22
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https://www.republicworld.com/science/space/europe-japan-sign-mou-to-provide-rover-instrument-for-2024-isro-jaxa-lunar-mission-articleshow.htmlQuote
The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) regarding the latter’s joint lunar mission with India. Under the deal, ESA would provide instruments for the Japanese rover, which would be used in the exploration of the Moon's south pole under the mission targeted for 2024. In a tweet by ESA's Director-General Josef Aschbacher on April 5, he revealed that the two agencies also agreed on cooperation over cross support in the areas of data acquisition, space navigation, and mission operations. "We have a wonderful history with (JAXA) and it’s always a pleasure for us to work with them", Aschbacher wrote in his tweet.
QuoteThe lunar endeavour between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and JAXA is called the Lunar Polar Exploration Mission (LUPEX) which aims to launch an Indian lander and a Japanese rover to the Moon. This would be India's fourth attempt to reach the Moon as the Chandrayaan-3 mission is scheduled to take off in August this year.
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#6 by Kryten on 06 Apr, 2022 11:12
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The acronym for the water analysis instrument is REIWA, a word having another meaning in Japanese. According to wikipedia, 'The Japanese Foreign Ministry provided an English-language interpretation of Reiwa as "beautiful harmony."'
I was going to say something about the Reiwa era officially starting about this time after the abdication of the last emperor, but I checked the dates and this post predates the era name announcement by a couple weeks. Weird coincidence. -
#7 by vyoma on 08 Apr, 2022 17:06
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#8 by vyoma on 11 Apr, 2022 19:50
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https://www.geospatialworld.net/prime/isro-to-handhold-private-sector-to-create-innovative-space-ecosystem-in-the-country-s-somanath-chairman/ [Dated April 11, 2022]Quote
We are working with JAXA on developing a payload, as well as a mission to go to moon. This will be launched using Japan’s launch vehicle, but the spacecraft will be jointly developed by ISRO and Japan. A lander which will land on the moon. This will be after Chandrayaan 3 It will take three, four, five years to develop.
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#9 by Steven Pietrobon on 14 Apr, 2022 06:21
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"Further, the ESA Director General and the President of the Japanese agency JAXA last week signed an agreement to fly ESA’s EMS-L, the Exospheric Mass Spectrometer instrument, on board the JAXA/ISRO LUPEX lunar rover mission. This adds to the growing list of European experiments flying to the Moon in the next few years."
https://www.esa.int/Newsroom/Press_Releases/Redirecting_ESA_programmes_in_response_to_geopolitical_crisis -
#10 by Astro_Neel on 15 Apr, 2022 15:14
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In a new presentation by JAXA's Dai Asoh (the Project Manager of LUPEX at JAXA), at the ISAS Open Day 2022, a lot of new information, updates as well as a new updated animation for the lunar mission was shown.
The livestreamed program was shortly privated from their Youtube channel, but luckily I've been screen recording the whole thing. So I've reuploaded the entire presentation on my own youtube account which is available to be watched here-
Presentation:
New Animation for LUPEX:
Few updates from the presentation slides-
> Dec 2020 - System Requirements Review (SRR) of the mission was completed. Transition to Planning and Decision Phase began.
> Aug to Oct 2021 - Rover's preliminary design was completed/locked.
> Dec 2021 - System Definition Review (SDR) was completed.
> Feb 2022 - Project Transition Review took place.
> March 2022 - Lunar space probe project is launched.
Key points to be noted from the animation-
> Lander is to be made by ISRO, equipped by the engines and precision landing algorithm/software provided by JAXA.
> Landing would be on or close to the spots called 'Peaks of Eternal Light' near the lunar poles for maximum solar illumination.
> Rover would explore the Permanently Shadowed Craters and use its payloads to study the quantity and quality of minerals and water ice present there. It is also equipped with a drill for in-situ experimentation.
> The whole mission is expected to last for at least 6 months, powered by the sunlight during the lunar day and using the high energy dense batteries during the lunar nights.
> The landing site requires to be in line of sight with the Earth for constant radio contact.
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#11 by vyoma on 13 Jul, 2022 08:43
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From "Space Research in India" 2020-2021 report here:Quote
The following instruments are proposed by PRL for ISRO-JAXA rover:
Permittivity and Thermo-physical Investigation for Moon’s Aquatic Scout (PRATHIMA):
Objective of this instrument would be the in-situ detection and quantification of water-ice mixed with lunar surface and sub-surface soil using a rover/lander platform. The proposed experiment consists of a multipurpose probe that will be deployed into ~20-30 cm of the lunar surface to scout and quantify the presence of water-ice. This instrument is shortlisted to be flown on the LUPEX Rover and Lander.QuoteThe following instruments are under development for possibilities on lander/rover misison
• Low Energy Gamma Ray Spectrometer (LEGRS)
• Alpha Particle Spectrometer (APS)
• LUnar Micrometeorite EXperiment (LUMEX)
• Lunar Electrostatic Dust EXperiment (LEDEX) -
#12 by Vahe231991 on 17 May, 2023 02:18
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The LUPEX mission is now scheduled for 2025:
https://news.abplive.com/india-at-2047/india-space-odyssey-isro-future-space-missions-mangalyaan-2-chandrayaan-2-gaganyaan-1546639
In a report by Neeraj Srivastava, S. Vijayan, and Amit Basu Sarbadhikari titled "Future Exploration of the Inner Solar System: Scope and the Focus Areas" dated September 27, 2022, the LUPEX mission is called Chandrayaan-4. Is there an available copy of this report? -
#13 by FutureSpaceTourist on 17 Jul, 2023 04:44
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https://twitter.com/chethan_dash/status/1680797317073444864Quote
#Update #Thread #Space #India #Japan
@isro, whose #Chandrayaan3 is on its journey towards #Moon, may have to build new lander engines for #LUPEX with @JAXA_en. The main objective of the mission is to confirm the presence of water in the polar regions of the moon. 1/n
Pic: JAXAQuoteIsro chairman S Somanath said the space agency was yet to submit the final project report to the government for clearance as some issues pertaining the weight of the lander and rover are being looked into by both sides. 2/n
QuoteConfirming that the project is being relooked into, Somanath said: “The current timeline is long… The architecture of LUPEX is still not finalised. There are many challenges that we are working on... 3/n
Quote...First, he said, the mass of the lander that Japan has defined was slightly higher than Isro’s current capacity and the teams were looking at how to meet that.” 4/n
Quote“Second, the lander craft is ours and they’ll supply the rover, whose mass is higher, which makes the overall mass higher. This means that we cannot use the current engines being used in Chandrayaan-3 lander and new engines need to be developed... 5/n
Quote...So, we are looking at how to manage with the available technological capability, which is another challenge. Currently this process is going on and various aspects are being discussed,” Somanath said. 6/n
QuoteAnother scientist said that the learnings from Chandrayaan-3, however, will provide significant information for the planning of #LUPEX 7/n
QuoteIn April this year, a Japanese delegation visited Isro for a working group meeting. According to JAXA, in “Working Group1”, results of the landing site analysis were shared, and opinions were exchanged on promising candidate sites. 8/n
Quote“The status of Isro’s instruments on the rover was also shared and the future coordination policy was confirmed,” according to JAXA. 9/n
Quoteinformation on antennas on the ground that send and receive commands and telemetry was also shared, and that there were exchanges of ideas on methods for estimating where landers and rovers are on the Moon. n/n
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#14 by Vahe231991 on 15 Sep, 2023 01:51
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https://twitter.com/chethan_dash/status/1680797317073444864
With the Chandrayaan-3 having landed on the moon and scientists now analyzing data searching for signs of frozen water, it'd be interesting to see if the Chandrayaan-4 will build upon the research into the probable presence of water on the Moon undertaken by the Chandrayaan-3 mission.Quote#Update #Thread #Space #India #Japan
@isro, whose #Chandrayaan3 is on its journey towards #Moon, may have to build new lander engines for #LUPEX with @JAXA_en. The main objective of the mission is to confirm the presence of water in the polar regions of the moon. 1/n
Pic: JAXAQuoteIsro chairman S Somanath said the space agency was yet to submit the final project report to the government for clearance as some issues pertaining the weight of the lander and rover are being looked into by both sides. 2/n
QuoteConfirming that the project is being relooked into, Somanath said: “The current timeline is long… The architecture of LUPEX is still not finalised. There are many challenges that we are working on... 3/n
Quote...First, he said, the mass of the lander that Japan has defined was slightly higher than Isro’s current capacity and the teams were looking at how to meet that.” 4/n
Quote“Second, the lander craft is ours and they’ll supply the rover, whose mass is higher, which makes the overall mass higher. This means that we cannot use the current engines being used in Chandrayaan-3 lander and new engines need to be developed... 5/n
Quote...So, we are looking at how to manage with the available technological capability, which is another challenge. Currently this process is going on and various aspects are being discussed,” Somanath said. 6/n
QuoteAnother scientist said that the learnings from Chandrayaan-3, however, will provide significant information for the planning of #LUPEX 7/n
QuoteIn April this year, a Japanese delegation visited Isro for a working group meeting. According to JAXA, in “Working Group1”, results of the landing site analysis were shared, and opinions were exchanged on promising candidate sites. 8/n
Quote“The status of Isro’s instruments on the rover was also shared and the future coordination policy was confirmed,” according to JAXA. 9/n
Quoteinformation on antennas on the ground that send and receive commands and telemetry was also shared, and that there were exchanges of ideas on methods for estimating where landers and rovers are on the Moon. n/n
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#15 by FutureSpaceTourist on 30 Oct, 2023 05:46
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https://twitter.com/jsec_jaxa_jp/status/1718856891294724105Quote
2 ⃣ Go to the moon's south pole to find water! How to build the LUPEX exploration rover
Joint mission with India 🇮🇳🇯🇵 , Lunar Polar Explorer (LUPEX) project ( @lupex_jaxa ).
You can see actual test footage and a rover model of the LUPEX rover, which travels on the lunar surface to investigate the presence of water 👀
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#16 by FutureSpaceTourist on 06 Dec, 2023 06:55
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https://twitter.com/chethan_dash/status/1732259201425223982Quote
#Space #India #thread
Here we go: #Chandrayaan3 PM's return to an Earth orbit, weeks after Aug 23 lunar hop by #Vikram, has provided Isro with a shot in the arm to expedite India’s next #Moon mission that aims to bring back samples from Moon — #Chandrayaan4 (details below) 1/n
Isro chief S Somanath laid out plans for the complex mission in a chat. While @isro has shown it can reignite engines on the lunar surface & bring a spacecraft back to Earth orbit, docking tech is yet to be demonstrated (there'll be more tech aside from these too). 2/n
For this, Isro has in the pipeline Space Docking Experiment (#SPADEX). “Sample return mission is much more complex as it’ll have many more manouvres: Collect samples and place them in a canister, return of that unit to the unit that will take off from Moon... 3/n
...and reach Moon’s orbit where it needs to dock with a spacecraft that will return to Earth’s orbit. After this, the unit needs to separate and dock to a spacecraft in Earth’s orbit which will eventually make a re-entry,” Somanath told me. 4/n
Therefore, SPADEX will be a crucial experiment not just for lunar sample return mission but will also give Isro data on space rendezvous technology, advancements in which are critical for a space station and sending humans there and eventually to Moon. 5/n
The PMO had recently made public a roadmap for Isro, which includes a space station by 2035 and humans on Moon by 2040. 6/n
“We're aiming for SPADEX by the end of 2024. The sat is getting ready,” Somanath said. As part of #SPADEX, the satellite will launch with 2 components. It’ll separate into 2 pieces & then get docked into a single piece. This single unit will function as a full-fledged sat 7/n
On progress of #Chandrayaan4 so far, Somanath said: “We’ve identified a team and I’ve reviewed the initial project and overall architecture. Now system-by-system review, technology review and departmental review etc has to be done. It is a long process but the work is on.” 8/n
India is also working with Japan on the Lunar Polar Exploration (Lupex) mission, whose main objective is to confirm the presence of water in the polar regions of the moon. 9/n
As reported by TOI earlier, Isro is yet to submit the final project report for clearance as some issues pertaining to the weight of the lander and rover are being looked into by both sides. 10/n
Will #Chandrayaan4 pip #Lupex? “I cannot predict as of today. Both are under approval process. Lupex is an international engagement and we need readiness from the other side also while Chandrayaan-4 is our own. I cannot predict which one will be first,” Somanath said. n/n
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#17 by daedalus1 on 06 Dec, 2023 08:31
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It'll be interesting how much soil will be returned.
The Soviets only managed a few grams with a Proton vehicle.
The Chinese managed just ovee a kilogram using a similar sized launcher, LM5.
The largest Indian launcher has significantly less capability than those two. -
#18 by seshagirib on 20 Jan, 2024 12:44
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^ isro is planning multiple launches ( 2 ?) to overcome limitations of launcher payload capacity.
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#19 by seshagirib on 21 Jan, 2024 15:41
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isro's strategy to overcome launcher lift capacity limitations, by multiple launches.