As hopes dim of further contact with India's moon rover, the country's space chief has said he was satisfied with the prospect of calling its successful lunar mission to an end.

India began exploring the moon's surface in August after becoming just the fourth nation to land a craft on the celestial body, sparking celebrations in a country rapidly closing in on milestones set by global space powers.

Rover Pragyan—"Wisdom" in Sanskrit—surveyed the vicinity of the moon's south pole but was powered down before the start of lunar night, which lasts roughly two weeks on Earth.

The Indian Space Research Agency had hoped to prolong the mission by reactivating the solar-powered vehicle once daylight returned to the lunar surface, but so far has been greeted by radio silence.