India's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), termed as Mangalyaan, launched by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on 5 November 2013 has completed 90% of its journey towards the Red Planet.

ISRO announced that Mangalyaan is close to reach its orbit. Remaining 10% of its journey will be completed in four weeks' time. The mission holds a lot of importance for India. It is one of the most important and advanced space mission for India and its success will place India in the league of the US, Russia, European Union, Japan and China.

India is putting more money into its space projects. The MOM has cost India $75 million and is considered to be the most cost effective mission of such a nature in the history of space exploration. Similar US mission has cost NASA around $800 million.

Since its launch date, Mangalyaan has travelled around 680 million km. Though MOM has completed majority of its journey, ISRO said it would face difficulty in the next phase. As per ISRO, Mangalyaan will face problem in restarting the onboard liquid engine, as it is in slumber mode for around 10 months.

"However, necessary redundancy and other measures have been incorporated in the spacecraft design and we hope, not to face much problem in restarting the engine", affirmed the officials.

Mangalyaan was launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on board the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. By September 24, it will reach Mars atmosphere. ISRO said that on September 24, the manoeuvring of the spacecraft will start at around 7.30 am IST.

Its speed will be reduced, so that the spacecraft can enter into the orbit. Everything is going well and the spacecraft and its payloads are in good condition. The ISRO has always regularly updated about the MOM's status as how far it is from earth and how much distance it has traveled to complete its Mars mission