Consider the following statements:
The Mangalyaan launched by ISRO
- 1.is also called the Mars Orbiter Mission
- 2.made India the second country to have a spacecraft orbit the Mars after USA
- 3.made India the only country to be successful in making its spacecraft orbit the Mars in its very first attempt
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only
Statements 1 and 3 are correct, and statement 2 is wrong. Mangalyaan is ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission, and India reached Mars orbit on its very first try, but India was the fourth space agency to do so, not the second country after the USA.
- ✓ 1. ISRO itself says Mangalyaan and Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) are the same mission, India's first interplanetary mission, to Mars.
- ✗ 2. ISRO became the fourth space agency to put a spacecraft in Mars orbit, after NASA of the USA, Roscosmos of Russia and the European Space Agency, so India was not the second.
- ✓ 3. The spacecraft entered Martian orbit on 24 September 2014 and, in the words of the Government of India, India became the first country to reach Mars on its maiden attempt.
Remember · Mangalyaan = Mars Orbiter Mission (PSLV-C25, 5 November 2013; Mars orbit 24 September 2014): fourth space agency at Mars, first country to succeed at the first attempt.
Sources
- ISRO, Frequently Asked Questions: Mars Orbiter Mission ↗ “Mangalyaan / Mars Orbiter Mission is a space probe orbiting Mars and is India's first interplanetary mission to the planet Mars”
- Press Information Bureau, Government of India: Building India's Space Future ↗ “On 24 September 2014, the spacecraft successfully entered Martian orbit, making India the first country to reach Mars on its maiden attempt.”
- ISRO, Mars Orbiter Mission ↗ “ISRO has become the fourth space agency to successfully send a spacecraft to Mars orbit.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·