Not engaged in space race with China: ISRO

Bangalore-headquartered ISRO, he said, is focused on space application, communication, remote sensing, navigation and space sciences and building satellites for those areas, besides indigenous launch vehicle technology.  

If India succeeds in the MOM, it would be the fourth in the world, after the US, Russia and Europe to do so.  

“China tried this, not exactly as a Mars mission of their own, they joined Russia and did a Probos-Grunt mission. That was in 2011 which had a problem; it did not leave the earth orbit. So, they (China) have not attempted as of now. But India will be the fourth country if you are able to succeed.

“That we can say in September 2014 (when the MOM spacecraft is planned to be inserted into Mars orbit). Being a complex mission of this nature, any day you advance it's a progress,” Radhakrishnan said.