ISRO Announces Chandrayaan-5 Mission: Story in 5 Points

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has announced the Chandrayaan-5 is happening to expand the study on the Moon. Speaking at an event in Chennai, ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan said the Centre has greenlit the moon exploration mission, which made history with Chandrayaan-3’s successful lunar landing in 2023.

“Just three days ago, we received approval for the Chandrayaan-5 mission, which will be conducted in collaboration with Japan,” said Narayanan.

The announcement comes as ISRO prepares for the Chandrayaan-4 mission, expected to be launched in 2027 to bring samples from the moon back to India. While the next lunar mission will help the 25-kg Pragyan rover — rolled out as part of Chandrayaan-3 — collect samples and bring them back, the fifth edition of Chandrayaan will expand India’s efforts to conduct an extensive study of the moon.

Here are the key points of ISRO’s new announcement:

1. Chandrayaan-5 will take place years from now, with 2028-29 as the expected timeline as the upcoming Chandrayaan-4 is set for launch in 2027. According to Narayanan, the fifth edition of the lunar mission will feature significant advancements over the predecessors. However, he did not give specifics on what these advancements will be.
2. He revealed that the Chandrayaan-5 mission will include a 250kg rover — much larger than the 25kg Pragyan — to study the lunar surface more extensively. The underway Chandrayaan-3 mission is aimed at learning more about the dark regions of the moon — a first in the world.
3. The Chandrayaan-5 mission will leverage Japanese space exploration technologies, enhancing the rover’s potential to collect more accurate data in a better way. It will likely house better-resolution cameras to capture the moon’s surface.
4. While ISRO has not revealed how much the Chandrayaan-5 mission will cost, the overall expenses are estimated to follow the Chandrayaan-3’s model. The Chandrayaan-3 mission cost roughly ₹615 crore (around $75 million), compared to NASA’s Artemis I, which cost around $4 billion and Russia’s Luna-25, the expenses of which stood at about $200 million — making it one of the most cost-effective lunar exploration missions.
5. Narayanan also revealed ISRO’s plan to set up a Bhartiya Space Station — India’s own independent space station — in the coming years. This could allow ISRO to send crewed missions, such as the upcoming Gaganyaan, without relying on the International Space Station — which is owned and operated through an international partnership of space agencies of the United States (NASA), Russia (Roscosmos), Europe (European Space Agency), Japan (JAXA), and Canada (CSA).

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