The mission had been heralded as a significant step for India, as it attempts to realize its space ambitions. In the past 10 years, the Indian space agency has launched multiple missions into space to gain a better understanding of Mars and the moon.

The country aims to turn itself into a global space power and put Indian astronauts into space by 2022.

The aborted mission comes almost 50 years to the day that Apollo 11 launched its historic feat to put the first human on the moon.

The mission had three elements -- lunar orbiter, lander and rover, all developed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Once in orbit, the lander -- named Vikram after the pioneer of the Indian space program Vikram Sarabhai -- was to separate from the orbiter and gently land on the moon's surface near its South Pole around September 6.

A robotic rover named Pragyan (wisdom) was then expected to deploy and spend one lunar day, or 14 Earth days, collecting mineral and chemical samples to examine the composition of the moon's surface. Over the next year, the orbiter would map the lunar surface and study the outer atmosphere of the moon.

As well as coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing, the aborted launch comes as other space agencies revisit the idea of sending humans to the moon and beyond.