Mangalayaan: “A Hollywood movie 'Gravity' cost more than our Mars mission!”

By The Indian Republic: India’s Mars Orbiter Mission, Mangalayaan, successfully entered the orbit of Mars this morning, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Bangalore to see this historic event unfold. PM Modi commended the scientists on their success and praised them on their hard work and dedication.

Mangalyaan, launched on November 5, 2013, has been configured to carry out observation of physical features of Mars and also record a limited study of the Martian atmosphere. Led by ISRO chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan, the team of 14 top space scientists worked on this mission for 15 months.

Talking on the low cost of the mission, which has awed many across the world, PM Modi exclaimed, “A Hollywood movie Gravity cost more than our Mars mission!”


Production cost of this golden satellite and the entire Mars Orbiter Mission has been recorded at just Rs450 crore or nearly $67 million, cheapest Mars mission undertaken anywhere in the world. Notably, the cost of he American rover Curiosity which has reached Mars was a whopping US $2 billion.

According to the experts, India’s technological capabilities and frugal bills have pushed scientists to cut costs, which in turn is paving the way for faster, cheaper and possibly durable inter-planetary missions.


Hailing this achievement as a great one, Modi said so far over 51 Mars missions have been undertaken across the world but only 21 were successful. India’s mission is the only one to be successful in its first attempt. Speaking at the event, Modi further said that this mission was a risk and India dared to take up this project and now the incredible scientists at ISRO have helped India move ahead of the realm of human imagination.

Narendra Modi said such daring and courage to take up these kind of projects is what is required to take India further. He said that today India has created history and this mission is a stepping stone for much bigger projects, like the mission to the moon. India’s Mangalayaan will be marked as an historic event.

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