India’s First Mars Orbiter ‘Mangalyaan’ Enters Earth’s Orbit [VIDEO]

India on Tuesday successfully launched its Mars orbiter 'Mangalyaan' at 2.38 p.m. on its first interplanetary mission. The Mars orbiter has separated from the rocket and is in Earth's orbit.

With this successful lift off of the 1,350-kilogram (3,000-pound) orbiter, India joins the world's space pioneers that include U.S., Russia and Europe to have launched missions to Mars. India now is the the fourth nation to join this select club.

Scientists from the Indian Space Research Organization celebrated the successful launch of the Mars orbiter Mangalyaan (Mars Craft). The mars orbiter was launched on an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota coast, Andhra Pradesh. This launch marks the new era of low-cost space exploration.

"I am extremely happy to announce that the PSLV C25 placed Mars Orbiter Mission precisely in elliptical orbit about 44 minutes after lift off. This is the 25th flight of the PSLV. It has a new and complex design," said Koppillil Radhakrishnan, the head of India's Space Research Organization.

Reports according to BBC state that thePSLV will take the orbiter into an elliptical orbit around Earth where it will begin a series of six small engine burns in order to elevate it to a higher orbit. The final burn will send the craft on an interplanetary trajectory to start its 300 day and 780 million km journey to the Martian world. It is expected to start orbiting Mars by September.

The  Indian President Pranab Mukherjee said, "This launch of India s first dedicated Mars Orbiter Spacecraft is a significant milestone in the progress of our space programme and space applications. This day shall go down as a landmark in our space programme, a day which will inspire our scientists to make even greater strides in achieving our national goals in the field of space."

The Rs. 450 crore ($72 million) Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) hopes to make news discoveries.

The MOM has five instruments that will help in carrying experiments on the Red Planet, according to IBNLive. Two instruments aboard the Orbiter will capture 360 degree pictures of the Martian surface and hunt for the presence of minerals. Another instrument will study the Mars atmosphere and one other will map the presence of water if any. The fifth instrument will check for the presence of methane.

NASA's Mars mission MAVEN will launch next month.