India Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Determined to Land Chandrayaan-3 Near Moon South Pole in 2022
Speaking to TOI, ISRO Chair S Somanath reiterates commitment to reaching lunar surface NLT year end, claiming place in history as 4th nation with a Moon landing mission after USSR, USA, China; “Final call” on launch date will depend on orbital parameters following craft testing, including drop test / landing simulation to be carried out at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota similar to testing of Chandrayaan-2 in Mahendragiri with 100-m crane / bungee cord used to simulate 1/6 Moon gravity, testing maneuvering; Somanath has also made clear that Chandrayaan-3 will include a stripped-down orbiter in addition to lander and rover, despite early reports that ISRO would forgo orbiter
Seeking to establish commercial access to the lunar surface, pilot phase of Lunar Transportation / Exploration Program began November 24 with MoU signing specifying 15-kg lander payload space / 5-kg rover payload space on missions beginning 2024 if ESA evaluation panel approves partnership NET 2022; Arrangement would see ispace landers launched on Ariane 6 rockets; ArianeGroup currently enjoys good working relationship with ispace EU, building propulsion elements for series 1 lander set for late 2022 launch on SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5
As prospects of sustained operations on the Moon nears, unique orbital mechanics of Earth-Moon system draw attention of mission planners and 
First commercial orbital mission ‘Inspiration4’ on SpaceX Dragon capsule, sending humans furthest from Earth in 21st century, reaching 585km; Inspiration4 Commander Jared Isaacman reflects on “single most impactful moment” being Moonrise, urges space travelers push “little bit more and get out there [Moon]”; William Shatner, famous for Star Trek Captain Kirk portrayal, insists “everybody in the world needs to do this” after Blue Origin flight; Yusaku Maezawa and assistant Yozo Hirano launching to ISS 8 Dec via Soyuz; Maezawa organizing lunar orbit on Starship with 10-12 member crew NET 2023
Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) to provide communications spacecraft operating on S, X and UHF frequency bands from elliptical lunar orbit, ESA is first major customer under US$23.5M / 5 year agreement formalized at Royal Society in London as launch-for-service exchange with NASA being pursued; David Parker of ESA says “robust & fast communications… will be available to all” in signing release 
With CLPS robotic surface missions delayed into Q1 2022, the 25-kg, 12U Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) is to kick off Artemis Moon program with Oct launch to 1,600 x 70,000km near rectilinear halo orbit via Rocketlab Electron, with goal of proving orbital stability ahead of Gateway by positioning relative to LRO; Artemis 1 launching NET Nov 26 to validate SLS / Orion while dispersing 13 cubesats from Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage in 4 batches following trans-lunar injection, allowing wide range of cislunar trajectories