You did it, MOM: India jubilant as probe enters Mars orbit

Success of historic low-cost mission demonstrates nation's technical capabilities and is a launch pad for commercial and research satellites

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Control centre staff watch Narendra Modi on screens yesterday. Photo: Reuters

Published: 10:30pm, 24 Sep 2014Updated: 10:54pm, 25 Sep 2014

India triumphed in its first interplanetary mission, placing a satellite into orbit around Mars yesterday and catapulting the country into an elite club of deep-space explorers.

In scenes broadcast live on Indian TV, scientists broke into wild cheers as the orbiter's engines completed 24 minutes of burn time to manoeuvre the spacecraft into its designated place around the red planet.

"We have gone beyond the boundaries of human enterprise and innovation," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a live broadcast from the Indian Space and Research Organisation's [ISRO] command centre in Bangalore. "We have navigated our craft through a route known to very few."

This photograph shows the craters of Mars taken by India’s Mangalyaan spacecraft. It has become the first Asian spacecraft to reach the red planet, all achieved for less than the budget for the Hollywood space blockbuster Gravity. Photo: Reuters

Modi congratulated the scientists and "all my fellow Indians on this historic occasion".

Scientists described the final stages of the Mars Orbiter Mission, affectionately nicknamed MOM, as flawless. The success marks a milestone for the space programme in demonstrating that it can conduct complex missions and act as a global launch pad for commercial, navigational and research satellites.

Reaching Mars is a major feat for the developing country of 1.2 billion people. At the same time, India has a robust scientific and technical educational system that has produced millions of software programmers, engineers and doctors.