India Aborts Moon Mission Due to ‘Technical Snag’

NEW DELHI—India’s space organization is examining the technical snag that led to the aborting of the launch Monday of a spacecraft intended to land on the far side of the moon, an official said.

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)'s Geosynchronous Satellite launch Vehicle MkIII carrying Chandrayaan-2 stands at Satish Dhawan Space Center after the mission was aborted at the last minute at Sriharikota, in southern India, on July 15, 2019. Manish Swarup/AP Photo

NEW DELHI—India’s space organization is examining the technical snag that led to the aborting of the launch on July 15 of a spacecraft intended to land on the far side of the moon, an official said.

The Chandrayaan-2 mission was called off shortly before liftoff early Monday by the Indian Space Research Organization when a “technical snag” was observed in the 640-ton, 14-story rocket launcher.