ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan has unveiled ambitious plans for India’s lunar exploration, announcing the Chandrayaan 4 mission, which will be India’s first lunar sample return mission, set for a 2027 launch. This mission will utilize innovative in-space docking technology developed during the SPADEX mission, overcoming the challenge of a combined spacecraft weight exceeding the capacity of a single launch vehicle. Following that, the Chandrayaan 5/LUPEX mission, scheduled for 2028 in collaboration with Japan’s JAXA, aims to conduct extensive lunar surface science with a heavy-duty lander and a significantly more capable rover. These missions not only enhance India’s position as a formidable spacefaring nation but also pave the way for deeper international collaboration in lunar exploration, marking a significant step toward establishing human presence on the Moon.