India's second mission to the Moon-- Chandrayaan-2--was called off due to a "technical snag" in its most powerful rocket a little less than an hour before launch from a spaceport here in the early hours of Monday.
Scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) were assessing the seriousness of the problem with the heavylift rocket GSLV Mk-III rocket carrying the satellite that put a halt to the ambitious Rs 976 crore lunar mission amid uncertainty over a future launch date.
The ISRO was tightlipped as to what may have caused the glitch that occurred when liquid propellant was being loaded into the rocket's indigenous cryogenic upper stage engine.
But several space scientists said the space agency must be appreciated for calling off the launch of rather than hurrying into a major disaster.
Watched by President Ram Nath Kovind, the countdown to the launch of Chandrayaan-2 on board Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle GSLV-Mk-III, dubbed as 'Baahubali', was scheduled for 2.51 am.
The mission was stopped 56 minutes and 24 seconds before lift-off at 1.55 am following an announcement from the Mission Control Centre.
Confusion prevailed for several minutes before the ISRO came out with an official confirmation about the launch being cancelled.
"A technical snag was observed in the launch vehicle system at t-minus 56 minutes. As a measure of abundant precaution Chandrayaan 2 launch has been called off for today," ISRO Associate Director (Public Relations) B R Guruprasad said. He did not specify the nature of the snag
"Launch is called off due to technical snag. It is not possible to make the launch within the (launch) window. (A new) launch schedule will be announced later," another ISRO official said,