India's maiden Mars mission blasts off

With its latest mission, India has proven its technological prowess. The ambitious project aims to search the Martian atmosphere for methane, which is crucial to life on Earth. The satellite will carry out science experiments and surface imaging studies on the Red Planet.

India spent around 73 million US dollars on its mission to Mars, less than half the cost, for instance, of a Boeing 787. The mission, informally called Mangalyaan, which means "Mars craft" in Hindi, is scheduled to reach the Martian orbit on September 24, 2014 after a journey of around 422 million miles.

If the mission succeeds, India will become the fourth country or group of countries to reach the Red Planet, after the Soviet Union, United States and Europe. It will also be the first country from Asia to have achieved this feat.

More than half the world's attempts to reach Mars - 23 out of 40 missions - have failed, including missions by Japan in 1999 and China in 2011.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced the project on India's Independence Day last year, just months after a failed joint mission to Mars by Russia and China, leading to claims by some analysts that a space race is developing between New Delhi and Beijing.

India spends one billion US dollars per year on its space program. It has developed satellite, communication and remote sensing technologies that are being used to measure coastal soil erosion, assess the extent of remote flooding and manage forest cover for wildlife sanctuaries.

India's space agency is planning a second moon mission in 2016-17 after successfully putting a probe into lunar orbit in 2008. The agency is also developing plans for a manned space flight, for which it is awaiting government's approval.