So, it emerges that India’s moon mission will end at least a year ahead of schedule.

Irrespective of whichever way this is spun, it is a significant setback for the country’s space ambitions.

India’s space agency claims that the mission has met almost all its objectives, but this claim seems more like an exercise in dissonance reduction. After all, if something is expected to take two years, it will likely end up taking at least that much time. The country’s space agency has already provided specific reasons for this failure, or partial success—issues related to flawed designs.

While it is true that no one can address all the variables involved in space missions— just look at the US space shuttle programme—India’s space agency should look at how it made these design mistakes.

Did it have to do with a focus on getting to the moon cheap?

Everyone made much of the fact that India’s moon mission had cost a fraction that of other countries’. Well, it also lasted a lot less than it was supposed to.