The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) says it has found signs of large amounts of ice under the Moon's polar regions.
The study, published in the journal of the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, suggests that the volume of subsurface ice within the first couple of meters is about five to eight times larger than that found on the surface in both the northern and southern polar regions of the Moon.
Scientists from ISRO's SAC conducted the study in collaboration with researchers from IIT Kanpur, the University of Southern California, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and IIT (ISM) Dhanbad.
The study suggests that the amount of water ice in the northern polar region is twice that in the southern polar region.
Drilling on the Moon to gather samples or excavate its ice will be crucial to gain an accurate picture of the distribution and depth of water ice at the lunar poles, which will help to minimise uncertainties when selecting landing and sampling sites for future missions, the scientists said.
The study also supports the theory that volcanic activity during the Imbrian period (3.8 to 3.2 billion years ago) is the primary source of subsurface water ice found at the lunar poles.