Chandrayaan-4 to be launched in 2027, configuration finalised: Jitendra to Parl

Chandrayaan-4 is slated to be launched in 2027, and its targeted landing site is the southern polar region of the Moon, Union Minister Jitendra Singh told Parliament on Thursday.

Giving details about the status of the lunar mission, Singh said the configuration of the spacecraft as well as the critical design of avionics, mission and flight dynamics had been finalised.

In a written response to Andhra Pradesh MP Meda Raghunadha Reddy, Singh said, “The major objective of the Chandrayaan-4 mission is to successfully land on lunar surface, extract lunar sample through robotic arm, ascent from lunar surface and bring back the collected lunar sample to the Earth.”

“The configuration of the spacecraft is finalized and the critical design of avionics, mission and flight dynamics is completed. The planned timeline for Chandrayaan-4 mission is 2027,” he added.

He said that the landing region was expected to be geologically diverse, having close proximity to permanently shadowed regions (PSR). “It also offers the possibility of finding water/ice. Besides, the polar regions of the Moon remain largely unexplored and the global scientific community is focused on exploring it in detail,” he said.

The mission would be followed by Chandrayaan-5, a collaborative mission between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

The Union Minister said, “The spacecraft for the mission comprises a lander and a rover. The lander is being developed by ISRO, while the rover is being designed and built by JAXA.”

“The collaborative work extends to the finalisation of interfaces between the lander and rover, interfaces between the spacecraft and JAXA’s launch vehicle and launch operations. However, the two agencies are not collaborating for the Chandrayaan-4 mission,” Singh said.

ISRO is also pursuing large amount of technology development and R&D activities in critical space technologies required for future Indian space programmes – including stage recovery and reuse, liquid oxygen-methane engine, air breathing/hybrid propulsion, advanced materials and manufacturing, advanced inertial systems, low cost spacecraft, inter-linking of satellite networks, electric propulsion, advanced scientific payloads, space-based surveillance and regenerative life support systems.