India's space agency has abandoned its inaugural moon mission a day after scientists lost communication with the orbiting Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, BBC reported.
"We don't have contact... and we had to terminate...," said the head of Isro - the Indian Space Research Organisation.
The unmanned craft was launched last October in what was billed as a two-year mission of exploration.
The launch was seen as a major step for India as it seeks to keep pace with other space-faring Asian nations.
Despite the termination of the mission, Isro chief G Madhavan Nair told reporters that the project was a great success and 95% of its objectives had been completed.
"We could collect a large volume of data, including 70,000 images of the moon," he added.
Isro scientists said the agency was in talks with the US and Russia to track the spacecraft, which was orbiting 200km from the surface of the moon.
Following its launch from the southern state of Andhra Pradesh last October, it was hoped the robotic probe would orbit the Moon, compile a three-dimensional atlas of the lunar surface and map the distribution of elements and minerals.
India 'terminates' Moon mission
India's space agency has abandoned its inaugural moon mission a day after scientists lost communication with the orbiting Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft.
