India sends a spacecraft into Mars orbit

FILE - In this Nov. 5, 2013 file photo, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C25) rocket lifts off carrying India's Mars spacecraft from the east-coast island of Sriharikota, India. With home-grown technology and a remarkably low budget of about $75 million, India could become the first nation to conduct a successful Mars mission on its first try. If the Mars Orbiter Mission, or MOM, settles into orbit in the morning Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014, as planned, the country will join the U.S., European Space Agency and the former Soviet Union in the elite club of Martian explorers. (AP Photo/Arun Sankar K, File)

Arun Sankar K ASSOCIATED PRESS

This post is in partnership with Time. The article below was originally published at Time.com

By Rishi Iyengar, TIME

(TIME)–Indian spacecraft Mangalyaan (also called the Mars Orbiter Mission or MOM) entered Mars orbit at approximately 10.30 p.m. E.T. on Tuesday, making India the first Asian country to accomplish the feat.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is now the fourth space agency to have successfully completed a Mars mission — joining those of the U.S., Russia and Europe — and the South Asian nation is the only country to enjoy success on a maiden mission to Mars.

Another superlative: Mangalyaan has set a record for the cheapest Mars mission, costing just $67 million. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier claimed that it was less expensive than the Oscar-winning film Gravity, Indian news channelNDTV reported.

In comparison, NASA’s MAVEN, which entered Mars’ orbit a day earlier, cost 10 times as much.

Modi was monitoring the mission’s progress at ISRO headquarters as the team behind Mangalyaan — which simply means “Mars craft” — broke into cheers. He commended the Indian scientists who worked on the mission.