“I was alert and up and about and watching what was happening with a hawk’s eye,” said Pallava Bagla, a science journalist who was attending the launch at the Satish Dhawan Space Center, near Chennai. “A beautiful moon was shining down through the clouds and asking the rocket to come to it. But then there was confusion. Everyone was trying to figure out what went wrong. The excitement was very high.”

The countless Indians across the country up in the middle of the night and raptly watching did not know what was going on, either. But they had a bad feeling.

“I had my laptop open, I was following the news and we were all so excited, this is a huge moment of pride for all Indians,” said Namrata Bera, a space teacher. “I am sad, definitely, but deep inside I totally believe we will succeed in this mission.”

[How to follow the Chandrayaan-2 moon landing.]

In the end, Indian scientists announced that nothing disastrous had happened but that the much anticipated launch needed to be postponed because “a technical snag” had been discovered while filling the rocket with cryogenic fuel. They were studying printouts and reams of data, they said Monday morning, and would provide more information as soon as they had it.