India’s first ever mission to Mars has “entered the Martian neighbourhood”, the country’s space agency said today ahead of a manoeuvre to put the spacecraft into the planet’s orbit.

Mangalyaan, meaning ‘Mars craft’ in Hindi, is due to cap a 300-day voyage by entering the orbit on Wednesday.

“Our navigator’s calculations show that Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) has entered the gravitational sphere of the influence of Mars,” the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) said on Twitter.

Later today, ISRO scientists will test-fire the space-craft’s engine for four seconds to prepare for Wednesday’s orbital insertion.

“The spacecraft is healthy. It has completed 98 percent of its journey towards Mars,” Isro chairperson K Radhakrishnan told broadcaster NDTV.

If successful, India’s space agency would be the fourth - after those of the United States, Europe and the former Soviet Union - to get a spacecraft to the Red Planet. More than half of all past missions to Mars have failed.

A Nasa probe named Maven entered Martian orbit late yesterday, with the goal of answering questions about the Red Planet’s early atmosphere.

- dpa