The computers on board the craft could have malfunctioned, triggering off the communication failure, he added.

'The power signals which go to the computer systems failed and we had to terminate the mission,' Nair said, adding that the spacecraft was orbiting the moon at a distance of about 200 km and it would take nearly 1,000 days for it to hit the moon's surface.

'We have already initiated discussions with the US and Russia to use their radars to track the orbiting spacecraft,' Nair said.

He also said lessons will be learnt from Chandrayaan-I and this failure would not delay the launch of Chandrayaan-II.

'There are some marginal corrections needed,' he said, adding that he would be meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh next week to speak to him about the mission.