BSTR/473

IBS Center for Management Research

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India’s Mars Orbiter Mission: Triumph of Frugal Engineering
This case was written by Surojit Mahato and Indu Perepu, IBS Hyderabad. It was compiled from
published sources, and is intended to be used as a basis for class discussion rather than to
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illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation.

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 2015, IBS Center for Management Research. All rights reserved.

To order copies, call +91 9640901313 or write to IBS Center for Management Research (ICMR), IFHE Campus, Donthanapally,
Sankarapally Road, Hyderabad 501 203, Telangana, India or email: info@icmrindia.org

www.icmrindia.org
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India’s Mars Orbiter Mission:

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Triumph of Frugal Engineering
“We have gone beyond the boundaries of human enterprise and innovation. We

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have navigated our craft through a route known to very few.”1
– Narendra Modi, Prime Minister, India
“We are really not racing with anyone, but with ourselves to reach the next level
of excellence.”2

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– K.Radhakrishan, Chairman, ISRO

INTRODUCTION

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On September 24, 2014, India’s the Mars Orbiter Mission (MoM) or Mangalyaan successfully
entered the Mars orbit. With this, India became the first nation to succeed in its maiden attempt to
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reach Mars and India’s primary space Agency, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization),
became the first space organization of Asia to do so.
After travelling for 300 days and accomplishing a journey of 420 million miles, Mangalyaan
reached Mars and started orbiting successfully. However, what grabbed the attention of the
international media was the mission’s shoestring budget of $74 million, which was one ninth of
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NASA’s Maven mission to put a spacecraft into the Mars orbit. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of
India, said, “Our program stands out as the most cost-effective, here is this story of our Mars
mission costing less than the Hollywood movie ‘Gravity’ ... Our scientists have shown the world a
new paradigm of engineering and the power of imagination.”3
The mission to Mars gained the reputation of being a difficult space exploration as only 21 out of
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the 51 attempted missions turned out to be successful. ISRO’s success was hailed by the
international media. The BBC, The Guardian, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The
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Washington Post, and The Economist mentioned that India had succeeded in becoming the first
country to put a satellite into the Martian orbit in its first attempt. However, the mission had its
share of critics with concerns being raised about the need and affordability of space exploration
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given the high levels of poverty in the country.

ISRO turned its dream of reaching Mars into reality in less than 2 years, utilizing the
indigenously developed Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). The mission was kept simple
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with only 5 scientific payloads4, thus reducing the weight. The spacecraft was also launched at a
time when the energy required was the minimum (during optimal trajectory) – something which
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1
“India’s Mars Satellite Successfully Enters Orbit, Bringing Country into Space Elite,”
www.theguardian.com, September 24, 2014.
2
“Mangalyaan: India’s Race for Space Success,” www.bbc.com, September 24, 2014.
3
Alan Boyle, “Why India’s Mars Orbiter Mission Cost Less Than ‘Gravity’ Movie,” www.nbcnews.com,
September 25, 2014.
4
Payload is the carrying capacity of an aircraft or a launch vehicle.
 India’s Mars Orbiter Mission: Triumph of Frugal Engineering

occurred every 26 months5. Only one model was created and most of the tests were performed
using software instead of constructing expensive prototypes. ISRO’s cost-cutting strategy
attracted the attention of many.

BACKGROUND NOTE
ISRO came into existence in the year 1969. Prior to that, INCOSPAR (Indian National Committee
for Space Research), was established in 1962 under the chairmanship of Dr Vikram Sarabhai
(Sarabhai), the Indian physicist referred to as the father of the Indian space research initiative.

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INCOSPAR was established to formulate India’s space program. Sarabhai successfully convinced
the government about the importance of a space program and also gained support from Dr Homi
Jehangir Bhaba, the pioneer of nuclear research in India. Sarabhai laid the foundation of ISRO,
whose mission was to utilize technology for the benefit of the common people and the nation as a

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whole. According to Sarabhai, “There are some who question the relevance of space activities in a
developing nation. To us, there is no ambiguity of purpose. We do not have the fantasy of
competing with economically advanced nations in the exploration of the moon or the planets or
manned space flight. But we are convinced that if we play a meaningful role nationally and in the
community of nations, we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to
the real problems of man and society.”6

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ISRO functioned under the administrative control of the Department of Space of the Government
of India. Headquartered in Antariksh Bhawan, Bangalore, South India, ISRO had regional research

some of the regional research centers of ISRO).

Table I
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centers dedicated to different specialized activities throughout the country. (Refer to Table I for
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ISRO – Regional Research Centers
Research Center Location Description
Vikram Sarabhai Thiruvananthapuram Designing huge rockets capable of launching large
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Space Center satellites. The center has developed SLV-3, ASLV,

PSLV series and was developing GSLV series as of
2014.
Liquid Propulsion Thiruvananthapuram Design and development of liquid propulsion
Systems Center and Bangalore control packages, liquid engines for launch vehicles
Physical Research Ahmedabad Research in areas like astronomy and astrophysics,
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Laboratories atmospheric sciences and aeronomy, earth sciences,

solar system studies, and theoretical physics.
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ISRO Satellite Bangalore Center for design, development, and testing for all
Center Indian made satellites.
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National Remote Hyderabad Does the crucial job of receiving pictures sent by
Sensing Center India’s remote sensing satellites in the form of radio
waves.
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Satish Dhawan Sriharikota Rocket Launch Center, located 100 km north of

Space Center Chennai in Andhra Pradesh, it is the only launching
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site of ISRO.
Adapted from www.isro.org

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A conjunction occurs where the Earth at the spacecraft’s departure from Earth; the Sun; and Mars at the
spacecraft’s arrival at Mars are in a line. ISRO used Hohmann Transfer Orbit method to send the
spacecraft using minimum amount of fuel.
6
www.isro.org

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 India’s Mars Orbiter Mission: Triumph of Frugal Engineering

Some of the other research centers are located in Chandigarh, Chittoor, Shillong, Mahendragiri,
Bhopal, and Dehradun.
Initially, the programs at ISRO focused on building satellites to benefit the communication technology
and weather forecast systems in the country. The first indigenously built satellite was Aryabhatta,
which appeared like a small box in the shape of a polyhedron7. The entire body of the satellite was
covered with solar cells that generated electricity when exposed to the sun. It carried 3 instruments or
payloads and was designed to study the sun, distant heavenly bodies, and the earth’s ionosphere8. On
April 19, 1975, Aryabhatta was launched by a Soviet rocket into a 600 km high orbit.

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The next series of satellites ISRO focused on were Bhaskara 1 and 2 which were an improvement on
Aryabhatta with better cameras to take good quality photographs of the earth’s surface. While ISRO
was working on the Bhaskara 1, the European Space Agency called space research organizations
around the globe to collaborate in developing a satellite launching rocket called the Ariane. In return,

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the Ariane would carry their satellites on its first few flights free of cost. ISRO’s proposal was one of
those selected and it launched its first experimental communication satellite APPLE (Ariane
Passenger Payload Experiment). The APPLE was made for the Geosynchronous orbit9.
ISRO’s next big achievement lay in building the INSAT (Indian National Satellite System), which
was a series of multipurpose satellites launched to meet the needs of the nation with respect to

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telecommunication, broadcasting, meteorology, and rescue operations. The INSAT series began
with the successful launch of the INSAT 1B in August, 1983. Built by Ford Aerospace of USA,
the satellite revolutionized the Indian television and radio broadcasting, telecommunications, and

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metrological sectors. The satellite made color television with dozens of channels a reality in the
country. TV signals were received all over the country simultaneously. Weather forecasting
became much more accurate. Building on the previous satellite, the INSAT 2A, launched in 1992,
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was indigenously made and was more capable. It carried transponders for telecommunication,
television broadcasting, and instruments for weather observation.
ISRO remained dedicated to applying developments in space technology for the benefit of society
and focused on developing Remote Sensing Satellites. The first such satellite that it successfully
developed was the IRS 1A in the year 1988, which became the first operational satellite built by
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Indian scientists. The IRS 1A was launched 900 km above the surface into a polar sun-
synchronous orbit, which made observation of the entire earth possible as it circled the earth in a
north-south direction. The Remote Sensing Satellites had a huge role to play in the development of
the nation. The good quality photographs sent by these satellites helped scientists detect diseased
crops, thus helping to minimize the price fluctuation of a particular commodity. Some other
important applications were identifying locations for groundwater, forest type, forest fire, pollution
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monitoring, and accurate map making.

ISRO scientists gained a significant amount of expertise and experience in building high yield,
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complicated satellites. However, they lacked launch vehicles and had to pay heavily to procure the
launching services, which were costly. To solve the problem and make space research more
affordable for India, scientists at ISRO successfully built the 1st PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch
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Vehicle). On October 15, 1994, The PSLV put the IRS P2 satellite into orbit. The PSLV was a
milestone achievement for ISRO as prior to it the only launch vehicle the ISRO had was the SLV 3
which was a 4 stage launch vehicle and used solid propellants, which made it less efficient.
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However, the PSLV used liquid propellants, which made it more efficient in terms of control. The
PSLV, a highly successful project of ISRO was not only a reliable vehicle but a versatile one too.
It successfully launched communication satellites and weather satellites as well as spacecraft to
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explore the moon.

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A polyhedron is a solid in three dimensions, flat face, and straight edges.
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The Ionosphere is the upper atmosphere of the earth 75 km to 1000 km above the earth. This part is
ionized by solar radiation. This influences radio propagation to earth.
9
A geosynchronous orbit is an orbit around the earth with orbital period (time taken by an object to make
an orbit around another object) matching the earth’s rotation period.

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 India’s Mars Orbiter Mission: Triumph of Frugal Engineering

However, the only disadvantage with the PSLV was that it could not launch heavier satellites like
the INSAT series which weighed 2,000 to 2,500 kg. To overcome this problem, ISRO started its
GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) program in the year 1990. The purpose of the
program was to develop a launch vehicle to deploy geosynchronous satellites which were powerful
tools for communication and broadcasting. The cryogenic engine formed a crucial part of the
technology which was added in the 3rd stage to the existing components of the PSLV. The
cryogenic and the related technology were to be supplied by the Russians and thereafter developed
indigenously with the transfer of technology. However, in 1992, the USA interfered and threatened

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to impose sanctions on both Russia and ISRO for violating the Missile Technology Control
Regime (MTCR) if the technology was sold to India. Analysts opined that the interference was due
to the dual use of the technology (satellite as well as missile) and the commercial angle involved as
satellite launching was a lucrative business.

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Indian scientists continued to work on the GSLV technology and after a series of failures, on
January 05, 2014, the first indigenously built GSLV tasted success, launching the GSAT into a
geosynchronous orbit.
ISRO’s scientists carved out their own identity in the international arena when Chandrayan-1,
India’s first mission to the moon, was successful. It was successful in gathering data that proved
the presence of water on the surface of moon. Chandrayan-1 was built in less than 5 years time and

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weighed 1,380 kg. It had 11 scientific instruments of which 5 were Indian and the rest were from
the US, the EU, and Bulgaria. The instruments included cameras, spectrometers, radar, and an

the mineral and fuel resources available there.

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instrument to measure harmful radiation. The mission was aimed at studying the moon to exploit

Continuing the success in space study, the then Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh,
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announced the Mars Orbiter Mission on August 15, 2012, with a budget of $74 million and 15
months’ time. Mangalyaan was launched from Sriharikota on November 05, 2013. It carried 5
instruments to conduct a scientific study of the atmosphere and find traces of methane. After 10
months – on September 24, 2014, Mangalyaan successfully reached the Mars orbit and started
revolving around the planet. ISRO’s success was celebrated throughout the country and it gained
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appreciation from the scientific community around the world.

MARS ORBITER MISSION

Mars had caught the imagination of human beings like no other planet in the solar system. The
similarity of the planet with Earth made scientists wonder whether the environment had ever been
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suitable for living organisms. Mars’s period of rotation around its axis was close to that of the
Earth at 24 hours and 37 minutes, while a complete revolution around the sun took the planet 687
days. The gravity on the surface was calculated to be one third that of Earth. The planet remained a
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major subject of study over the years for various space organizations around the world. The
Soviets made a series of attempts in the 1960s to reach the planet. However, all the attempts were
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unsuccessful.
After several trials beginning 1964, on November 14, 1971, NASA became the first space
organization to reach the planet Mars and the Mariner 9, the first spacecraft to orbit the planet. With
time, the interplanetary travel to Mars gained the reputation of a difficult space exploration target. As
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of September 2014, there were 2 scientific rovers on the surface of the planet and they were
continuously sending back signals to Earth (Opportunity of the Mars Exploration Rover mission and
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Curiosity of the Mars Science Laboratory mission) and five orbiters surveying the planet (Mars
Odyssey, Mars Express, Mars Reconnaissance orbiter, Mars Orbiter mission, and Maven).
After the success of Chandrayan-1, ISRO scientists took the next logical step to attempt planetary
exploration beyond the Moon. The Advisory Committee for Space Science (ADCOS) at ISRO set
up a study team under the guidance of the chairman and prepared a blueprint with all the experts
from the major centers and units. The extensive study done by the team discovered that launching
an orbiter around Mars, even using the proven PSLV launch system was possible. It then

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 India’s Mars Orbiter Mission: Triumph of Frugal Engineering

submitted a report in June, 2011. However, the challenge that ISRO faced was that the time for
preparation for the Mars mission was less than 2 years as the Mars mission opportunities with
minimum energy occurred every 26 months10. The launch of the Mars mission was critical in 2013
and became important because in case of a missed opportunity ISRO would have to wait for
another 26 months. Additionally, the velocity requirement for the next opportunity in January 2016
would be more and would require a heavier vehicle.
The other challenges that the Mars Orbiter Mission had were reaching the planet by using the least
amount of fuel, injecting the spacecraft into the elliptic parking orbit by the launcher, transferring

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Mangalyaan into the flight path toward Mars which would eventually intersect the orbit of Mars at
the exact moment when the planet would be there, and finally undertaking the Mars orbit Insertion
maneuver which was the final step at which the spacecraft would be absorbed by the gravity of the
planet and would keep revolving around it. The liquid engine would have to be restarted exactly

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after 10 months for the Martian orbiter maneuver to happen automatically. One of the major
challenges would be coping with the thermal environment because of the huge variations in the
temperatures of the planet. Communication from a distance of 214 to 375 million km was
something in which the ISRO scientists had had no experience.
130 companies, including nine public sector units, were involved in supplying different parts for
MOM. 48 of these companies were involved in building the spacecraft, and the others in making

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PSLV. These included, aerospace division of Indian conglomerate Godrej, which supplied engine
and fuel powered thrusters; defense and aerospace business unit of engineering conglomerate

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Larsen & Toubro, which manufactured three segments used in the rocket; public sector company
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. which supplied deck panel and satellite structure; another company
Avasarala Technologies supplied heat transfer pipes; Vajra Rubber supplied flex seal, used in
direction control of rockets; Centum Electronics, an electronics company based in Bangalore
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provided communication subsystems.
Experts pointed out that dedicated space scientists at ISRO, who put in long hours running even
upto 20 hours a day, and salaries paid to them, which was about 20% of what NASA paid to its
scientists helped ISRO in minimizing the costs. Tight schedule also helped ISRO complete the
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mission in a record time. According to ISRO Chairman, Radhakrishnan, “We are schedule-driven
to the extreme. This prevents cost over-runs. The mission has taken 15 months from the time our
Prime minister announced it in August last year to the liftoff.”11

THE LAUNCH
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The mission was designed to achieve maximum momentum with minimum fuel. The Earth parking
orbit characteristics were so chosen as to minimize the energy requirement for the trans-Mars
injection and for the Mars orbit insertion operations. (Refer to Exhibit I for Details of the Mars
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Orbiter Mission)
Mangalyaan’s journey was largely divided into 3 phases: the geocentric phase, the heliocentric
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phase, and the areocentric phase. The geocentric phase consisted of the launch by the PSLV C25,
maneuvers of orbit raising, and successful insertion into the trajectory of the path to the Mars orbit.
Initially, ISRO had planned to launch MOM by the GSLV directly into the Mars trajectory.
However, after the repeated failures of GSLV technology, ISRO opted for the trusted PSLV even
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if it was less powerful. The Mars Orbiter Mission was launched by the much proven PSLV C25 on
November 05, 2013, from the Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh,
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South India. The Mangalyaan probe spent a month in the geocentric low-Earth orbit where a series

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Every 26 months, Mars is close to earth. At that time earth is in the middle with the sun on one side and
Mars on the other. At this time, the distance between Mars and earth is shorter, which is an opportunity
for the orbiter to be put into Mars’ trajectory with the minimum fuel being consumed.
11
Saritha Rai, “How India launched its Mars mission at cut-rate costs”, www.forbes.com, November 07,
2013.

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 India’s Mars Orbiter Mission: Triumph of Frugal Engineering

of altitude raising orbital maneuvers were performed in November, which raised the spacecraft to a
distance of 192,874 km. By gradually increasing the orbit, Mangalyaan gained the necessary
escape velocity to escape 11.2 km/s to break free from the Earth’s gravitational pull before being
injected into the inter Mars trajectory.
The heliocentric phase, to circle around the sun, included the complicated task of injecting the
spacecraft into the trajectory to the Mars orbit which would finally coincide with the location of
the planet when the spacecraft reached its orbit. On December 01, 2013, Mangalyaan was
transferred by engine firing into the heliocentric trajectory toward Mars.

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The spacecraft travelled for 298 days and on September 24, 2014, Mangalyaan entered the final
phase named areocentric, where it was inserted into the Mars orbit. In the process, the mission
completed a journey of 780 million kilometers. (Refer to Exhibit II for the Mission Profile).

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FRUGAL INNOVATION! FOR WHOSE BENEFIT?

Mangalyaan successfully completed the journey on a shoestring budget of $74 million. The Mars
Orbiter Mission became the first interplanetary mission of the organization to reach Mars and
ISRO became the 4th organization after NASA, the Soviet Space Program, and the European Space

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Agency to do so. In addition, ISRO became the first space agency to reach the planet in its first
attempt. The scientific expertise achieved by the ISRO scientists received praise from space
organizations and media around the globe.

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The budget of the Mars Orbiter Mission was less than the budget for the Hollywood movie Gravity
which was produced at $100 million and also less than Boeing commercial planes which cost $76
million. With the success of the Mars Orbiter Mission, Indian scientists proved that meaningful
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science was possible at low cost. According to Saritha Rai of Forbes, “ISRO can now market itself
as a low cost destination for sophisticated engineering. ISRO is already launching commercial
satellites for a host of western countries at competitive costs.”12
NASA’s annual budget was US$16 billion, which was 0.1% of the GDP of the United States
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whereas ISRO’s annual budget was only 0.038% of the Indian GDP. According to Radhakrishnan,
the major part of the budget was spent for the social benefit of the nation and only 7% on pure
science research like the Mars Orbiter Mission. According to NBC, the American space agency
NASA had failed in its efforts to come up with a “faster, cheaper, better” approach to mission
Mars. Some of the big failures of NASA were when it lost $193 million when its Mars climate
orbiter crashed into the surface of Mars due to an error in measurement conversion in September
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1999. Three months later, NASA suffered a loss of $120 million when the Mars Polar Lander
crashed on to the surface, probably due to a sensor software glitch.
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Praising the achievements of ISRO, The Economist said the success of Mangalyaan would boost
the national confidence. The article stated, “The mission reportedly cost just $74m, which is much
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less than setting up a cricket team in the Indian Premier League and arguably more entertaining.
As a boost to national confidence, an advert for India’s program for launching commercial
satellites and a help in shaping perceptions of an emerging power, it may prove to be money well
spent. India becomes the first Asian nation to reach the red planet.”13
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To cut down on costs, ISRO kept its goals modest. It aimed to only analyze the Martian
atmosphere using 15 kg of instrumentation compared to the 65 kg of payloads of MAVEN, an
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orbiter of NASA which reached the planet a few days before the Mars Orbiter Mission. The
mission cost of NASA was 10 times the budget of Mangalyaan and the mission itself aimed at
significantly larger goals like understanding the planet’s dense atmosphere and how Mars had lost
12
Saritha Rai, “India’s Bargain Cost Mars Mission Mangalyaan Triumphs, Successfully Slides into Mars
Orbit,” www.forbes.com, September 24, 2014.
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“MOMs are from Mars,” www.economist.com, September 27, 1014.

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flowing water. ISRO used the technology earlier used in Chandrayan-1 to save on having to make
new investments. The low weight of the orbiter (1337 kg) made possible the use of the
indigenously built PSLV, which had been well tested previously during the Chandrayan-1 mission.
Fuel efficiency was achieved by cosmic timing, the alignment of the planets that occurred every 26
months that permitted an energy saving transfer. ISRO also made less investment in the
developmental stage of 15 months when scientists made only one model and depended largely on
software for testing.
The technological expertise achieved by the ISRO scientists was proved by the success of the Mars

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Orbiter Mission and received praise from the international media. However, as analysts pointed
out, the need for developing nations like India to invest in space exploration remained debatable.
Even after six decades of independence, India remained a country with an immense number of
poor people who did not have access to basic needs like electricity, nutrition, banking facilities,

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and toilets. The money spent by the government on public health was only 1.2% of the GDP which
was much too low, according to experts. Progressive economist Jean Dreze described the Mars
mission as a flag waving “delusional dream” as he opined public health and energy needs had to
be met first. The Economist pointed out, “But as the Mangalyaan begins its journey, many might
wonder how a country that cannot feed all of its people can find the money for a Mars mission.
How can poor countries afford space program?”14

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The Mars mission also drew criticism from former chairman of ISRO, G. Madhavan Nair, who

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described it as “a half baked, half cooked mission being attempted in undue haste with misplaced
objectives.”15 Many analysts also opined that ISRO was in a race with China to reach Mars and to
compete in technological expertise. China possessed bigger satellites, larger rockets, and had sent
its first astronaut in 2003. China also reached the moon before Chandrayan did. India had thus
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remained behind in the race. The bigger issue raised by critics was that government funds were
being channeled into space research without any profitable returns in a developing nation like
India, unlike in the West where research was increasingly being funded by private companies.
However, there were others who believed that the expertise achieved by the scientists at ISRO in
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developing complex satellites saved the lives of millions during the cyclones Phailin and Hudhud.
This was possible only due to the accurate prediction of the location, speed, and intensity of the
cyclones. The technology developed by ISRO was utilized by the DRDO (Defense Research and
Development Organization) to make missiles, thus strengthening the military power of India.
ISRO scientists had also contributed to balancing the economic situation at times by predicting
droughts and floods thus helping the government in administration. Experts opined that the
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technological expertise achieved by space exploration missions would benefit scientists develop
better satellites for the benefit of the country. The amount of money spent by the developed
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nations in space exploration also remained debatable when widespread poverty and inequality
existed in various parts of the world.
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ISRO had plans for Chandrayan 2 and the Aditya 1 scientific mission for solar studies, a mission to
Venus to study the atmosphere, and various technologically advanced satellites like ASTROSTAT
and the GSAT series. Research in pure science like space exploration required a lot of money and
had been always a topic of debate, given the poverty and public health concerns prevailing in
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various parts of the world. The Mars Orbiter Mission had set an example of frugal innovation in
space exploration for the future missions of space organizations around the globe. The meaningful
science and achievements of ISRO at low cost became a subject of discussion among industry
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experts.

14
“How can Poor countries Afford Space Programs,” www.economist.com, November 04, 2013.
15
Pallava Bagla, “Qualms about India’s Plan for a 2013 Mars Mission,” http://news.sciencemag.org,
August 21, 2012.

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 India’s Mars Orbiter Mission: Triumph of Frugal Engineering

Exhibit I

Details of the Mars Orbiter Mission

The Mars Orbiter Mission was the first interplanetary mission attempted by ISRO scientists.
The technological objectives involved in the mission were
 Design and realization of a Mars orbiter with a capability to survive and perform Earth
bound maneuvers, cruise phase of 300 days, Mars orbit insertion, and on orbit phase around

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Mars.
 Deep space communication, navigation, mission planning, and management.
 Incorporate autonomous features to handle contingency situations.
The scientific objectives of the mission were:-

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 Exploration of Mars’s surface features, morphology, topography, mineralogy.
 Study of the constituents of the Martian atmosphere, dynamics of upper atmosphere.
 Detection of the emanation of gaseous constituents from the surface looking for clues on
biogenic activities.

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 Looking for data of traces of methane presence in the atmosphere and detect their sources.
The spacecraft Mangalyaan carried 5 payloads which weighed 15 kg and were designed for
specific scientific activity.

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 Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP) – an absorption cell photometer which would measure the
relative abundance of deuterium and hydrogen from Lyman Alpha emission in the Martian
upper atmosphere. The measurement of D/H would help in understanding the loss of water
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from the planet. (1.97 Kg)
 Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM) – the instrument was designed to measure Methane (CH4)
in the Martian atmosphere with accuracy and to map its sources. (2.94 Kg)
 Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyzer (MENCA) – a mass spectrophotometer to
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analyze the neutral composition in the range of 1 to 300 amu with the unit mass resolution.
(3.56 Kg)
 Mars Color Camera (MCC) – to capture images and information about the surface features
and composition of the Martian surface. The camera would also record the dynamic events
and weather of Mars. (1.27 Kg)
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 Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrophotometer (TIS) – to measure the thermal emissions

during day and night. (3.2 Kg)
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Compiled from various sources

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Exhibit II

Mars Orbiter – Mission Profile

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Source: www.isro.gov.in
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Suggested Readings and References:

1. “Mars Orbiter Mission: The Frugal Innovation,” www.indiandefensenews.in, October

25, 2014.
2. Ken Kremer, “India Reaches Mars: why it Matters,” www.csmonitor.com, September
25, 2014.
3. Saritha Rai, “India’s Bargain Cost Mars Mission Mangalyaan Triumphs, Successfully
Slides into Mars Orbit,” www.forbes.com, September 24, 2014.

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4. “Mangalayan: India’s Race for Space Success,” www.bbc.com, September 24, 2014.
5. “Mars Exploration: First Time Lucky,” The Economist Intelligence Unit, September 24, 2014.
6. Priyamvada Gopal, “India’s Mars Mission could be a Giant Leap,”

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www.theguardian.com, September 24, 2014.
7. Priya Prasad, “Foreign Media Hails India, Conditionally,” www.business-standard.com,
Spetember 24, 2014.
8. Alan Boyle, “Why India’a Mars Orbiter Mission cost Less the Gravity Movie,”
www.nbcnews.com, Spetember 24, 2014.

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9. Andrew Buncombre, “Mangalyan: India has Success with Cut Price to Mars,”
www.independent.co.uk, September 24, 2014.
10. Gardner Harri, “On a Shoestring Budget India sends Orbiter to Mars on its First Try,”

11.
www.nytimes.com, September 24, 2014.
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“MOMs are from Mars: A giant step for National Pride,” The Economist Intelligence
unit, September 25, 2014.
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12. Madison Park, “India’s Spacecraft Reaches Mars Orbit and History,” edition.cnn.com,
September 25, 2014.
13. Pallava Bagla, “A faster Cheaper Mars Orbiter,” www.thehindu.com, September 25, 2014.
14. Narayan Ramachandran, “India’s Frugal Innovation,” www.livemint.com, October 05, 2014.
CO

15. Nikita Mehta, “Mars Orbiter Mission: 5 Things to Know,” www.livemint.com,

September 25, 2014.
16. Joanna Sugden and Santanu Choudary, “India Satellite Reaches Mars Orbit on First
Try,” online.wsj.com September 24, 2014.
17. Swati Sharma, “In Asian Space Race, India is First to Mars,” www.washingtonpost.com,
September 24, 2014.
T

18. “Mission Mars: ISRO’s Mangalyaan Heads For Final Destination,”

www.businessinsider.in, September 18, 2014.
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19. D Balasubramanian, “Mangalyan: A Steal at Re.4 Per Person,” www.thehindu.com,

November 14, 2013.
N

20. Samanth Subramanian, “India’s Frugal Mission to Mars,” www.neworker.com,

November 07, 2013.
21. Saritha Rai, “How India Launched Its Mars Mission At Cut-Rate Costs,”
O

www.forbes.com, November 07, 2013.

22. “Why India’s Mars Mission is So Much Cheaper Than NASA’s,” www.npr.org,
November 05, 2013.
D

23. “How Poor Countries Afford Space Programmes?,” The Economist Intelligence unit,
November 04, 2013.
24. www.isro.gov.in
25. www.mangalyaan.com
26. www.vscc.gov.in
27. www.shar.gov.in

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