India's maiden mission to Mars, launched in November last year, will enter the planet's orbit on Sept. 24 as scheduled, a top official of the state-owned space agency has said.
"After cruising through 666 million km across the solar orbit, for over nine months, our spacecraft will be inserted into the Martian orbit on Sept. 24 at 7.30 a.m. (local time)," Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)'s scientific secretary V. Koteswara Rao told the media late Monday evening.
"India will be the first country in the world to insert a spacecraft into the Martian orbit in its maiden attempt if the operation succeeds, and also the first Asian country to reach the Red Planet's sphere."
The 70 million U.S. dollars worth Mars Orbiter Mission was launched on Nov. 5, 2013, on board a polar rocket from the southern Indian spaceport of Sriharikota in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.