Produced by: Tarun Mishra Designed by: Manoj Kumar
India’s Chandrayaan-4 lunar sample return mission will aim for a landing site between 85- and 90-degrees latitude in the southern hemisphere of the Moon. The mission will also set the stage for a collaborative lander and rover project with Japan.
The mission will consist of two separate stacks launched on two rockets, targeting the lunar south pole region, as announced by P. Veeramuthuvel of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) during the International Astronautical Congress in Milan on October 17.
Chandrayaan-4 aims to collect approximately three kilograms of lunar samples, specifically from areas believed to contain water ice. ISRO plans to employ new technologies for surface scooping and drilling to depths of up to two meters.
Ongoing studies will finalize the landing site. Initial discussions pointed to an area near Shiv Shakti Point, which was the landing site for Chandrayaan-3, situated at around 69 degrees latitude.
The mission will feature lunar landing, sample collection, docking in lunar orbit, and the safe return of samples to Earth. This mission is also expected to demonstrate capabilities for future crewed lunar missions, with plans for India to land astronauts on the Moon by 2040.
Each stack of the Chandrayaan-4 mission will weigh approximately 4.6 tons, totalling 9.2 tons. Both will launch on an LVM-3 vehicle and will dock in geosynchronous transfer orbit before heading to the Moon.
Although a specific launch date has not been provided, projections suggest a launch window between 2027 and 2028. Additionally, progress is being made on the Chandrayaan-5 mission, a collaboration with Japan’s JAXA, targeting a launch around 2028-2029, with a focus on the lunar south pole and potential water-ice deposits.