Article Posted on : - Aug 13, 2014

Artist's rendering of the MOM orbiting Mars

CHENNAI (PTI): India's first inter-planetary mission to Mars "Mangalyaan" was on its course and the orbiter would reach the Martian orbit on September 24, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K Radhakrishnan has said.

"The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) is on course and as per plan it would reach the orbit on September 24," he told reporters at the airport here on Tuesday.

The Rs 450 crore MOM was launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on board Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) on November 5 last year with an aim to reach the red planet's atmosphere by September 24.

According to ISRO, only 14 per cent of the journey remains in MOM's heliocentric arc towards Mars Orbit Insertion.