In pictures: India prepares for Mars mission

Paramilitary soldiers stand guard near the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C25) at the Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota, in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is making its final preparations to send an orbiter to Mars on Tuesday. The principal aim is to test out India's space technology to see if this emerging space-faring nation is capable of interplanetary missions.

Indian engineers work on the Mars orbiter spacecraft at the satellite centre of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in Bangalore, India

The spacecraft will also collect scientific information about the planet's atmosphere and surface.

Technicians inspect the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C25) at the Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota, in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh

India's PSLV-XL (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) will put this orbiter into an elliptical orbit around the Earth.

Paramilitary soldiers stand guard at the control station of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh

The unmanned Mangalyaan probe was to have been launched as early as 28 October, but rough weather in the Pacific forced officials to delay the launch by a week.

Paramilitary soldiers patrol the control station for the mission to Mars at the Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota, in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh

Paramilitary soldiers are patrolling the control station at a space facility in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

Indian engineers work with their staff next to a pyramid shaped rocket or Liquid Apogee Motor, foreground, to be installed on the Mars orbiter spacecraft, background, at the satellite centre of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in Bangalore

India's 1,350kg (2,976lb) robotic satellite is equipped with five instruments, include a sensor to track methane or marsh gas - a possible sign of life.

Indian scientists and engineers work with their staff on the Mars orbiter spacecraft at the satellite centre of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in Bangalore

If the mission succeeds, ISRO will become only the fourth space agency, after those in the US, Europe and Russia, to have successfully sent a spacecraft to Mars.