Indian space scientists were desperately trying Tuesday to establish communication with their broken moon lander, having located the probe that went silent moments before it was due to make a historic soft landing.

The lander, called Vikram - after the founder of India's space program - was due to touch down on the moon in the early hours of Saturday, but contact was lost around 2.1 kilometers above the surface.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) tweeted an update on its Chandrayaan-­2 (Moon Vehicle 2) mission, which blasted off in July with India hoping to become just the fourth country to make a successful soft lunar landing.

"#VikramLander has been located by the orbiter of #Chandrayaan2, but no communication with it yet. All possible efforts are being made to establish communication with lander," the space agency said.

The Asian country's most complex space mission, carrying an orbiter, lander and rover, was almost entirely designed and made in India - and cost a relatively modest $140 million.

Indian media reports have said that the lander suffered a "hard landing," possibly damaging it and the rover inside.

The Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency reported Monday that the lander was unbroken but was lying tilted on the lunar surface, and that the chances of restoring communication were low.

"Unless and until everything is intact, it's very difficult [to re-establish contact]," PTI quoted an unnamed ISRO official as saying. "Only if it had a soft landing, and if all systems functioned, could communication can be restored. Things are bleak."

Only the US, Russia and China have made a successful soft landing on the moon, and India had hoped to be the first on the lunar South Pole.

According to the ISRO, the orbiter will continue to circle the moon for almost seven years, providing "high-­resolution images which will be immensely useful to the global scientific community."

India is also preparing Gaganyaan, its first manned space mission, and wants to land a probe on Mars.