Chandrayaan-4, India's mission to the Moon and return with lunar soil, gets Cabinet approval

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the Chandrayaan-4 mission on Wednesday. Under the mission, India will develop and demonstrate the technologies to return to Earth after landing on the Moon.

The mission also intends to collect Moon samples and analyse them on Earth.

The Chandrayaan-4 mission will eventually achieve the foundational technologies and capabilities for an Indian landing on the Moon (planned by 2040) and a safe return to Earth, a release on the Press Information Bureau (PIB), the government's information sharing platform, said.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will be responsible for developing and launching the spacecraft for the Chandrayaan-4 mission.

The mission's budget has been set at ₹2,104.06 crore, which includes the cost of spacecraft development and realisation, two launch vehicle missions of LVM3, special tests for design validation and external deep space network support. Finally, the mission will involve landing on the moon's surface and safely returning to Earth along with the collected lunar sample.