The document outlines the objectives, challenges, navigation, and payloads of a Mars orbiter mission. The technological objectives are to design an orbiter that can survive Earth maneuvers, cruise through space for 300 days, capture Mars orbit, and study Mars from orbit. Major challenges include dealing with the wide range of thermal environments from Earth to Mars, radiation in interplanetary space, long-distance communication, and reduced solar power at Mars. Navigation involves launching into an elliptical Earth orbit and performing engine burns over months to place the spacecraft on a trajectory to Mars orbit insertion to study the Martian surface and atmosphere.

2. OBJECTIVES
Technological Objectives: Design and realisation of a Mars orbiter with
a capability to survive and perform Earth bound manoeuvres, cruise
phase of 300 days, Mars orbit insertion / capture, and on-orbit phase
around Mars.
• Deep space communication, navigation, mission planning and
management.
• Incorporate autonomous features to handle contingency situations.
Scientific Objectives: Exploration of Mars surface features, morphology,
mineralogy and Martian atmosphere by indigenous scientific instruments.

4. MAJOR CHALLENGES
• Thermal Environment- The bus needs to cope with a wide range of thermal environment, from Near
Earth conditions with Sun and Earth contributions to Mars conditions where eventually eclipses and
reduced solar flux give rise to cold case issues.
• Radiation Environment- The main frame bus elements and payloads are basically designed for
interplanetary missions capable of operating in Earth Burn Maneuvers , Mars Transfer Trajectory and
Martian Orbit environments.
• Communication Systems- The communication systems for the Mars mission are responsible for the
challenging task of communication management up to a distance of 400 million km. The High Gain
Antenna system is based on a single 2.2 meter reflector illuminated by a feed at S-band.
• Power System- One of the major challenges in the design of power system is due to the larger distance of
the satellite from the Sun. The power generation in Mars orbit is reduced to nearly 50% to 35%
compared to Earth’s orbit.
• Propulsion System- As the critical operation of Martian Orbit Insertion with Liquid Engine burn occurs
after 10 months of launch, suitable isolation techniques are adopted to prevent fuel/ oxidizer migration
issues.

6. NAVIGATION
• The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C25, injected the Spacecraft into an Elliptical Parking Orbit
with a perigee of 250 km and an apogee of 23,550 km.
• Further, six orbit raising manoeuvers gradually raised the apogee of the spacecraft to 1,92,874 km,
using the 440 N Liquid Engine on board.
• The last manoeuver, termed as Trans Mars Injection (TMI), moved the spacecraft in the Mars Transfer
Trajectory (MTT).
• Spacecraft crosses Earth’s Sphere of Influence (SOI) and enters heliocentric elliptic cruise phase.
• A series of Trajectory Correction Manoeuvres (TCMs) are planned in cruise phase, using Attitude and
Orbit Control System (AOCS) thrusters to achieve desired Mars arrival conditions.
• At the end of the heliocentric phase, Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI) manoeuvre will be carried out by
firing the Liquid Engine onboard and the spacecraft will be inserted into the intended Martian Orbit.
• The spacecraft will focus on in-depth study of morphology of the Martian surface and probe the
composition of its atmosphere and the space environment.

8. PAYLOADS

9. REFERENCES
• http://www.isro.org/mars/home.aspx
• http://www.isro.org/mars/navigation.aspx
• http://www.isro.org/mars/objectives.aspx