India’s first Mars orbiter has propelled out of Earth’s orbit and embarked on a 10-month voyage to the red planet. The critical maneuver to place the Mars Orbiter Spacecraft (MOS) in the Mars Transfer Trajectory was successfully carried out Dec. 1, says K. Radhakrishnan, chairman of the state-run Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

The state-run Airport Authority of India (AAI), which manages the majority of the country’s airports, is aiming to earn $240 million during the current financial year, which ends March 31. The profit is expected to come as a result of growth in revenue after the country’s Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) recently revised airport tariffs, AAI Chairman V. P. Agrawal says.

NEW DELHI — India’s ambitious Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV) is shooting for a first flight test in 2014. Defense scientists are conducting a series of tests and have already achieved some milestones in terms of engine development. “We are working on a demonstrator vehicle in the hypersonic space which will hopefully lead us to design hypersonic vehicles and ways to manage the thermal environment,” says V.G. Sekaran, director general for missiles and strategic systems at the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO).