ISRO Accelerates Lunar Ambitions with Chandrayaan-4 and 5: Sample Return, Polar Rover, and Global Partnerships in Play

ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan has officially confirmed that Chandrayaan-4 and Chandrayaan-5 are actively in development—marking a bold leap in India’s lunar ambitions.

Mission Highlights

Chandrayaan-4

• Scheduled for launch around 2027
• Will be India’s first lunar sample-return mission, targeting the Shiv Shakti landing site
• Includes a Venus Orbiter Mission, expanding ISRO’s interplanetary portfolio

Chandrayaan-5

• A joint venture with Japan’s JAXA
• Features a 250 kg rover—a major upgrade from Chandrayaan-3’s 25 kg Pragyan rover
• Designed to operate through the harsh lunar night at the Moon’s south pole

Technologies Powering Chandrayaan-4 & Chandrayaan-5

Chandrayaan-4: Lunar Sample Return Mission

This mission is a complex ballet of modular engineering and orbital choreography:

Module	Function
Propulsion System	Transports lander and ascender to lunar orbit
Descender (Lander)	Executes soft landing and collects lunar regolith
Ascender	Detaches post-sampling and lifts off from Moon’s surface
Transfer Module	Receives samples from Ascender and hands off to Re-entry Module
Re-entry Module	Returns samples safely to Earth, designed to survive atmospheric re-entry

• Space Docking Capability via SPADEX experiment
• Dual Rocket Launch Strategy using LVM3 and PSLV
• Robotic Sampling Arm for precise regolith collection
• Thermal Shielding for safe Earth re-entry

Chandrayaan-5: Indo-Japanese LUPEX Mission

This mission is all about long-duration survival and deep polar exploration:

 

Feature	Details
Heavy Rover (250 kg)	Equipped for subsurface analysis and night-time operation
Advanced Power Systems	Likely includes RTGs or high-efficiency solar arrays
JAXA Collaboration	Brings precision landing and terrain mapping expertise
South Pole Targeting	Focus on permanently shadowed regions for water ice detection

• Autonomous Navigation for rugged terrain and low-light conditions
• Cryogenic Sampling Tools to extract and preserve volatiles
• Radiation-Hardened Electronics for extreme lunar environments

Strategic Impact

These missions aren’t just scientific—they’re foundational for:

• Crewed lunar landings by 2040
• Bharatiya Antariksh Station development
• Global partnerships in deep space exploration

Broader Vision

• ISRO is also developing the Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS), with the first module planned for 2028 and full deployment by 2035. 
• The Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission will see an uncrewed launch in December 2025, followed by a crewed mission in early 2027. 
• India aims for a crewed lunar landing by 2040, using fully indigenous technologies

This roadmap positions India among the elite spacefaring nations, blending scientific ambition with strategic partnerships. Want a visual timeline or stylized summary for editorial use? I’d be thrilled to co-create one with you.