Article Posted on : - Sep 25, 2014

NEW DELHI (PTI): India Inc on Wednesday congratulated ISRO for the extraordinary feat of getting a spacecraft into the Martian orbit, saying the success of the mission will encourage the industry to invest in research and innovation, opening the doors for scientific endeavours in the future.

"...India's share in the multi-billion dollar space market is going to grow in the time to come. More funds should be made available for developing critical technologies and resultant commercialisation.

"ISRO has not only created history but also sent a message to the entire world that Indian R&D organisations have the best project management skills and the most cost effective solutions even for the highly complex projects like MOM," CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said.

India created space history Wednesday by successfully placing its low-cost Mars spacecraft in orbit around the Red Planet in its very first attempt, catapulting the country into an elite club of three nations.

"The cost of the mission (Rs 450 crore) is a meagre investment when compared to the billions that have been spent so far in similar missions. Our scientists have dared to take the challenges attached to a low cost mission with such complexity and high degree of precision".

"FICCI sees this historical accomplishment as a precursor to opportunities in the area of science and technology. It will encourage Indian industry to invest in research and innovation. Such demonstration of talent will surely pave the way of future progress of Indian industry," FICCI Secretary General A Didar Singh said.

Watched by Prime Minister Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ISRO scientists successfully ignited the main 440 Newton Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) and eight small thrusters that fired for 24-minutes from 7.17 AM and slowed down the speed of Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft 'Mangalyaan' for it to slip into a smooth orbit around the Red Planet after almost an year-long voyage.

India's MOM is the cheapest inter-planetary mission, costing a 10th of NASA's Mars mission MAVEN that entered the Martian orbit on September 22.

It aims to study Mars' surface and mineral composition, and scan its atmosphere for methane - a chemical strongly tied to life on Earth.

Given the high rate of failures --only 21 of the total of 51 missions sent to Mars by various countries being successful -- the success of MOM has given a boost to India's global standing in space.