The team at Lake Ellsworth decided to call off the project as they were unable to join the main bore-hole with a parallel hole that was to be used to recover drilling water.
They are now "weatherising" the equipment and it is unclear when they will be able to resume the project, 'BBC News' reported.
The USD 13 million project, headed by the British Antarctic Survey (Bas), aimed to drill carefully down using near-boiling water to pierce the lake, which has been untouched for as much as half a million years.
The team hoped to find hints of life from long ago, or even still surviving today, the report said.
The programme ran into trouble last week as the main boiler used to heat drilling water broke down, with a replacement part being flown from the UK reaching the site last Friday.
The team aimed to make two parallel boreholes, intended to join 300 metre below the surface.
A first bore-hole was drilled and left for 12 hours to create a hot-water cavity. This was to be used to re-circulate drilling water and to balance pressures when the sequestered lake was finally breached.
The team, however, was unable to reach the cavity during the course of drilling the second, main bore-hole - despite trying for over 20 hours.
"We will try again, but it is uncertain when that will be. There will have to be a full report into what's gone wrong," Audrey Stevens, spokesperson for Bas, said.
