NEW DELHI - Indian space agency's low-cost mission to Mars successfully entered the red planet's orbit on Wednesday, crowning India as the first country to execute such a project in its maiden attempt.

The success of the Mars Orbiter Mission, lauded for its low price tag of $74 million, will boost India's five-decade-old space programme that newly-elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi aims to expand with better infrastructure and technology.

The mission, affectionately nicknamed MOM, brings India into an elite club of Martian explorers that includes United States, the European Space Agency and the former Soviet Union.