ISRO, Japan Collaborate For Lunar Polar Exploration; Scheduled To Liftoff After 2023

ISRO is teaming up with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for space exploration. Together, the ISRO and JAXA will be launching the Lunar Polar Exploration, as the name suggests, to explore the Moon. The new collaboration is a major boost to the Indo-Japanese ties.

ISRO Lunar Polar Exploration

The new Lunar Polar Exploration will have both the countries working to send a lander and a rover on the Moon's surface. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will be building the overall landing module and rover for the new mission. On the other hand, ISRO will be designing and building the lander system.

According to the report from the Times of India, the new lunar exploration mission is scheduled for liftoff after 2023. Most likely, the mission will launch from Japan on the H3 rocket, developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The date ensures that it won't coincide with other space missions scheduled by ISRO, like the Gaganyaan mission, expected to liftoff in 2022.

Both ISRO and JAXA have setup a pre-project team earlier this year to develop a comprehensive management plan for the lunar exploration project. The team will be investigating the spacecraft system requirements and other interface specifications.

Purpose Of Lunar Polar Exploration

The Lunar Polar Exploration aims to collect actual data regarding the quantity of water on the Moon, from areas where water is already anticipated to exist according to previous observational data. The mission also aims to better understand the distribution, condition, and other parameters of the lunar water resources at the polar regions.

This is where the lander and the rover will come to play an important role. The newly-developed rover is expected to observe up to 2m underground. This further allows water detection and possible water resource in that area. At the same time, the rover will continue to observe the Moon's surface, sending vital information back to Earth.

Different From Chandrayaa-3 Mission

After the hard landing of the Vikram lander of the Chandryaan-2 mission, ISRO announced that it would get back on the Moon with the Chandryaan-3 mission. However, the join operation between ISRO and JAXA for the Lunar Polar Exploration is different from the Chandryaan-3 mission. Although there isn't a date fixed for the mission, it will liftoff from India with a lander and a rover, all developed by ISRO.