India's first mission to Mars will try to put a spacecraft in orbit around the red planet in a week, in an important test of a low-cost project named Mangalyaan carrying India's expectations to join the leaders of a global space race.

If the 74 million dollar mission is successful, it would strengthen Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision to build new space launch facilities capable of handling heavier satellites.

The Mars Orbiter Mission, called Mangalyaan, was launched last November, to study the red planet's mineral and surface composition, and scan its atmosphere for methane, a chemical tied to life on Earth.

If the spacecraft succeeds in entering the orbit around Mars on 24th September, India will become the first country in the world to succeed on its first attempt. Russian, U.S. and European missions have managed to orbit or land on Mars, but after many attempts.

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has already uploaded commands in order to assist the spacecraft automatically enter orbit on the morning of 24th Sept.

V. Koteswara Rao, who is the scientific secretary at ISRO, said that the scientists will run a 4-second test of a main engine that has been idle for 300 days, and make a small course correction.

The experts have said that it will be challenging for the scientists to get the trajectory right and reduce the spacecraft's speed from its current rate of 22 km per second to allow it to enter orbit. At the same time, it may be hard to receive the faint signals it emits.

If the main engine fails to restart, eight small fuel-powered thrusters will be utilized to put the spacecraft into orbit around Mars.