Indian Mars exploration missions

The Indian Mars exploration missions are an ongoing series of outer space missions by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for the exploration of Mars. The exploration is currently in the primary phase with Orbiter missions.^[3]

Indian Mars exploration missions

PSLV-XL C25 lifts off with Mars Orbiter Mission on 5 November 2013.
Program overview
Country	India
Organization	ISRO
Purpose	Exploration of Mars
Status	Active
Programme history
Cost	₹454 crore (US$54 million)[1][2]
Duration	2013–present
First flight	Mars Orbiter Mission, 5 November 2013; 11 years ago (2013-11-05)
Launch site(s)	Satish Dhawan Space Centre
Vehicle information
Launch vehicle(s)	PSLV-XL

There has been a single mission so far that deployed an orbiter around the planet which later lost its contact with the earth in 2022.^[4][5][6] A second mission planned for 2024 when the launch window opens.^[7]

Mission

Orbiter

Mars Orbiter Mission

Diagram of Mars Orbiter Mission-1.

Region around Arsia Mons captured by MOM-1.

The first mission, which is also known as Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) was launched in 2013 which carried Mars Orbiter Mission orbiter. The original mission was expected to operate for 6 months, but it lived well past its expected lifetime and lost its contact with the earth in 2022, lasting for over seven years.

Rovers and Rotocrafts

Mars Lander Mission

Mars Lander Mission is a proposed second Indian mission to Mars. Unlike the previous orbiter, it will operate in a lower orbit with Periareon and Apoareon altitude closer to the Martian surface. It will also carry greater scientific payload that includes a hyperspectral camera, a very high resolution panchromatic camera and a radar to better understand the early stages of Mars, its early crust, recent basalts, and ongoing activities such as boulder falls.^[8][9] Furthermore ISRO has also conceptualized a Mars UAV Marble (Martian Boundary Layer Explorer), that will have a suite of payloads for aerial exploration of Mars. The aerial vehicle will be designed to be capable of flying up to 100 meters in the thin Martian air to profile the Martian atmosphere.^[10][11] It is planned to be a part of Mangalyaan 2 mission.^[12]

It will conduct a high-resolution vertical profiling of critical atmospheric parameters and perform first-of-its-kind in-situ measurements in the near-surface boundary layers of Mars. The payloads will include temperature sensor, humidity sensor, pressure sensor, wind speed sensor, electric field sensor, and the trace species and dust sensor to measure vertical distribution of dust aerosols. The information was shared by Jayadev Pradeep, a scientist with the Space Physics Laboratory at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, during a webinar.^[13][14] The mission will also have a small rover.^[12]

List of Missions

Mission

  Successful and inactive
  Active
  Unsuccessful

Mission	Launch Date	Launch Vehicle	Orbital Insertion Date	Landing Date	Return Date	Status
						Main Mission	Extended Mission	Expected Mission Duration	Final Mission Duration	Notes
Phase 1: Orbiters
Mars Orbiter Mission	5 November 2013	PSLV-XL	24 September 2014	–	–	Success	Success	6 months	7 years, 6 months, 8 days	First Indian interplanetary mission.
Mars Lander Mission	TBD	LVM3	TBD	–	–	TBD	TBD	1 year	TBD	Proposed Indian Mars lander mission.

An artist's concept of MOM - 1 around Mars

Spacecraft during encapsulation

Gallery

• 
  One of the first images of the surface of Mars taken by the MOM-1 on 25 September 2014.
• 
  Dust storm on northern hemisphere of Mars as seen from MOM-1 on 28 September 2014.
• 
  Tharsis and Valles Marineris as captured by MOM-1.
• 
  Syrtis Major by MOM-1.
• 
  North pole of Mars by MOM-1.

See more on ISRO's website

See also

• Chandrayaan programme
• Indian Human Spaceflight Programme
• List of missions to Mars